News Release

Released: 05/30/01 Contact: Andrew Poon
NR 01-22 (604) 899-6880 or
(BC only) 1-800-373-6393

Vancouver -- The B.C. Securities Commission has imposed a cease trade order against 51 companies that missed filing their financial statements on time.

"Investors have a right to timely and accurate information about a company's financial state," said Andrew Richardson, manager of Financial and Insider Reporting at the Commission. "With this cease trade order, we are carrying out what we had promised to do if companies do not meet their financial reporting obligations to shareholders."

Earlier this month, the Commission said that it would impose cease trade orders on delinquent companies without warning.

A cease trade order, which bars any further selling of a company's securities, can seriously affect the company's capacity to do business, including hampering their ability to raise additional capital and meet financial obligations to creditors. They may also find it persuades potential investors to look elsewhere.

Close to 300 companies missed filing their Dec. 31 fiscal year-end financial statements with the Commission by the May 22 deadline. (Companies must normally file their annual financial statements 140 days after their fiscal year-end.)

Richardson said that although the 51 companies cease-traded were randomly selected, there are a number of habitually late-filing companies that have had similar orders imposed on them by the Commission before.

Consolidated Plentech Electronics Inc., a Spokane, Wash.-based electrical equipment manufacturer listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX), has had its shares cease-traded four times previously by the Commission for not filing annual and interim financial statements.

Auric Resources Ltd., a CDNX-listed, Plainsborough, N.J.-based gold and silver mining company, has been cease-traded twice before for missing filing deadlines. The company has only filed one statement on time in 12 previous deadlines for their interim and annual financial statements.

Last year, the Commission imposed cease-trade orders against 161 companies and allowed 75 of them to resume trading after they had addressed the problem.

About 6,200 companies file financial statements with the BCSC each year.

A copy of the cease trade order naming the 51 companies may be found on the BCSC website at www.bcsc.bc.ca. The Commission also publishes weekly a list of companies in default on its website. The list includes companies that have missed their filing deadline, companies that have filed but are missing information and companies that have failed to pay their filing fee. Investors are encouraged to check this list on a regular basis.

The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities and exchange contracts within the province.