News Release

Vancouver -- A former company president serving a 17-year ban from the securities market has lost his court appeal contesting the British Columbia Securities Commission hearing.

John Walter Scott Roeder, former president of Keywest Resources Ltd., a company listed on the former Vancouver Stock Exchange, continues to be under the commission’s 1995 orders banning him from the securities market.

Roeder appealed to the B.C. Court of Appeal and on April 4, 2005, in a unanimous judgment, the court dismissed the appeal, finding that the BCSC acted reasonably in making its 1995 orders.

The commission imposed the ban on Roeder after it found that:

• Roeder “managed Keywest as his own company and casually shuffled payments back and forth among his personal accounts and those of Keywest”
• He failed to disclose material changes and issued false and misleading new releases, and
• After arranging a sale of control of Keywest and receiving the proceeds, “despite the fact that he was still president and a director of Keywest, Roeder effectively abandoned Keywest”

In 2000, Roeder applied to the commission to have the 1995 orders revoked, alleging that BCSC staff counsel acted with a conflict of interest at the 1995 hearing. On May 20, 2003, the BCSC heard Roeder’s application and dismissed it on the basis of unjustified delay. The BCSC did not consider the merits of the conflict of interest allegations.

The B.C. Securities Commission is an independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities within the province. You may view the commission’s 1995 and 2003 decisions on our website www.bcsc.bc.ca by typing in the search box, John Walter Scott Roeder. If you have questions, contact Andrew Poon, Media Relations, 604-899-6880.