The Executive Director of the BC Securities Commission (BCSC) has imposed a $60,000 administrative penalty on a B.C. resident for failing to file timely reports of his securities trading activity.
Michael Derek Townsend was a director for four B.C. reporting issuers. As a reporting insider, Townsend was required to file reports disclosing changes to his ownership of a reporting issuer on the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) within five days of making them.
Between October 2020 to June 2024, Townsend failed to file insider reports about 528 transactions – involving securities valued at almost $1.6 million – by the required deadline.
He has since paid $10,300 in resulting late-fees.
Townsend has a previous history of securities misconduct. In 2007 he reached a settlement agreement with the BCSC for trading securities through an offshore account without reporting the transactions.
The penalty was reduced from $70,000 to $60,000 after Townsend exercised his opportunity to be heard.
