News Release

Released: December 17, 1999 Contact: Michael Bernard 899-6500 or
(BC only) 1-800-373-6393

Lawyer Michael L. Seifert Agrees to 12 Year Trading Ban,$450,000 in Fines and Costs in Settlement with Commission

Vancouver – Securities lawyer Michael Lee Seifert has agreed to a 12-year trading ban and will pay $450,000 in fines and costs to the B.C. Securities Commission after admitting he violated insider trading and other securities laws in dealings with several B.C. companies.

In a settlement reached with the commission, Seifert, former legal counsel for Arakis Energy Corp., also agreed he would not act as a director or officer of reporting companies or engage in investor relations for 12 years.

In addition he has given an undertaking that he will not act as a filing solicitor for any filings customarily made to the commission or the Canadian Venture Exchange for a period of 12 years. Commission Executive Director Steve Wilson said the commission demanded the unusual restriction because of Seifert’s privileged position as a lawyer when he breached securities laws

Commission investigators uncovered Seifert’s violations by tracking share transactions through multiple accounts in several jurisdictions, including the English Channel Island of Jersey, where commission staff worked with the Jersey Financial Services Commission in obtaining evidence.

Wilson said the settlement demonstrates the commission will impose significant penalties when it encounters misconduct in the marketplace.

"A level playing field for all investors is an essential condition for fair and efficient capital markets," Wilson said. "This case should act as a clear warning to those who would go offshore to skirt our securities laws.

"The commission will take the necessary steps – including travelling halfway around the world – to expose these activities."

Seifert was an insider of several B.C. companies, including Delgratia Mining Corp., Consolidated Dencam Development Corp., and Allied Strategies Ltd. for various periods between January 1992 and September 1995.

In the settlement, Seifert agreed he instructed or directed trading in companies of which he was an insider and failed to disclose this trading in the required monthly reports. The trading in question was conducted through the Michael L. Seifert Trust based in Jersey and Insco Holdings Limited a British Virgin Island company wholly owned by the trust. The trust was administered from offices in Jersey.

Seifert also admitted to the serious violation of trading while possessing material information that had not been properly disclosed to the market, conduct commonly referred to as "insider trading". The investigation showed that Seifert traded hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Arakis shares with knowledge of undisclosed material facts.

Additionally Seifert agreed that he made incomplete and inaccurate representations to the former Vancouver Stock Exchange in 1994 about matters involving Arakis Energy Corporation and Anthem International Inc., incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. He acknowledged he acted against the public interest by failing to publicly disclose that additional shares of Arakis were being issued during a take-over of another company with oil and gas concessions in Sudan, allegedly to accommodate a group of European financiers said to be interested in participating in the deal.

A copy of the Agreed Statement of Facts is available on the commission’s Web site www.bcsc.bc.ca or by contacting Communications Manager Michael Bernard at 604-899-6524.

For additional information about Arakis and related Enforcement action taken earlier this year, please see Commission news release 99-16 issued Feb. 24, 1999 on the commission’s Web site.

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