News Release

Released: August 23, 1996  Contact: Dean E. Holley   660-4800 or (BC only) 1-800-373-6393

VANCOUVER -- The Staff of the British Columbia Securities Commission suggested today that British Columbia residents invited to speculate in foreign currencies through leveraged foreign exchange contracts should first call the Commission's Enforcement Enquiries Unit.

The suggestion was made as the Executive Director released enforcement orders against four B.C. residents and two off-shore companies and their principals for violations of the B.C. Securities Act in their participation in the trading of leveraged foreign exchange (forex) contracts.

The orders were issued following settlement agreements between the respondents and the Executive Director.

The B.C. residents, Eric Siu Fung Ko, Charlie chi-Kin Ng, Simon Gervaise William Postles and Troy Tisserand, were ordered to comply with the Act and to cease trading in forex contracts. They also agreed to pay penalties ranging from $2,000 to $5,000. Ko and Ng are also prohibited from being officers or directors of any issuer in the province for five and three years, respectively.

The off-shore respondents, Joseph Yan-Lap Chan, Kit Wai Cheung (a.k.a. Johnny Kit Wai Cheung and Johnny Kit-Wai Cheung), Mau Chung Ng (a.k.a. Alfred Ng), Top Rank Investment (International) Ltd. and Top Rank (Macau) Investment Co. Ltd., were ordered to comply with the Act and to cease trading in forex contracts. Collectively, they agreed to pay a penalty of $25,000.

The case came to the attention of Commission staff during an investigation into the business of Goldman Stanley Consultants Inc., a B.C. company which offered the public an opportunity to trade leveraged foreign exchange contracts through its facilities in Vancouver and Richmond.

The respondents, along with Goldman Stanley and others, were named in a Notice of Hearing in the matter of Chinamax International Investment Ltd., issued April 22, 1996. The Commission has reserved its decision following an August 2, 1996 hearing against Goldman Stanley and other respondents who did not settle.

The Chinamax hearing was the third forex contract enforcement case brought by Commission staff in the last two years. On June 7, 1995, the Commission issued decisions in the matter of Yuen Chow International Group et al and that of Currency Specialist Ltd. et al. Those decisions recognized that forex contracts, which purport to represent the purchase or sale of various foreign currencies on margin, are risky and intangible investments of the type intended to be regulated under the Securities Act.

The Executive Director has issued temporary enforcement orders in a fourth forex case, involving Anthony Pak Chuen Chan, Capco Management (S) Pte. Ltd., and others. The hearing of that case has been adjourned pending completion of Commission staff's investigation.

In light of the foregoing, the Commission suggests that B.C. residents call the Enforcement Enquiries Unit at 660-4938 or (toll free within B.C.) 1-800-373-6393 before accepting invitations to speculate in foreign currencies through leveraged foreign exchange contracts.

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