On December 23, the Ontario Securities Commission released its reasons for imposing
sanctions in
its case against Coventree Inc. and two of
Coventree's directors. As we discussed in an
earlier post, the Commission recently ordered
Coventree to pay an administrative penalty of $1
million and costs of $250,000, while the defendant directors were
each ordered to pay a penalty of $500,000.
The sanctions decision raises a couple of points of particular
interest. First, the decision considers the principle enunciated in
Kienapple that an
accused cannot be punished for more than one offence arising out of
the same set of facts. While the principle has been applied in an
administrative context in the past, the Commission in the immediate
case raised doubt as to whether the principle would apply to an OSC
proceeding. Regardless, the Commission found that the failure to
issue and file a news release in respect of a material change in
this case was a distinct offence from the
