News Release

Vancouver – The B.C. Securities Commission has reached a settlement agreement with an outside director of Pacific International Securities Inc.

Germain Carrière, a member of Pacific International’s board of directors and the firm’s executive committee since May 1998, has acknowledged that he had a duty as a director to ensure that Pacific International establish and apply adequate compliance procedures for dealing with clients.

Carrière, an outside director (i.e. he is not an employee or officer of the company) on Pacific International’s board, admitted that he became aware of certain deficiencies in the firm’s compliance procedures in trading in the U.S. Over-The-Counter-Bulletin Board market for non-resident clients, and that some of the trading that took place harmed the reputation of the capitals markets in B.C.

(In July 2001, the commission issued a notice alleging, among other things, that Vancouver-based Pacific International and its directors failed to take proper compliance action on activity in certain client accounts.)

Carrière, the president and chief operating officer of Individual Investor Services of National Bank Financial Ltd., was one of nine directors named in the notice of hearing.

In the settlement made public today, BCSC Executive Director Steve Wilson pointed to several factors that mitigated the sanctions which may otherwise have applied in the public interest in Carrière’s case:

1. Carrière was a director and member of the Executive Committee of Pacific International only from May 1998. Major efforts to reform Pacific International’s compliance procedures were undertaken beginning in June 1999.
2. Carrière relied upon the due diligence report obtained by National Bank Financial and the information from the VSE that Pacific International was a compliant firm.
3. Carrière was an outside director and not an employee or officer of Pacific International.
4. Beginning in or about June 1999, Carrière took a leading role in a review and reform of Pacific International’s compliance procedures.

Carrière must pay the commission $5,000 as part of the agreement.

The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities and exchange contracts within the province. Copies of the settlement can be viewed in the documents database of the commission’s website www.bcsc.bc.ca or by contacting Andrew Poon, Media Relations, 604-899-6880.