News Release

Vancouver - A British Columbia Securities Commission panel has upheld allegations that a North Vancouver businessman breached a 1999 order.

On February 23, 1999, James Terrence Alexander and his family holding company JT Alexander and Associates Holding Corporation (JTA) entered into a settlement agreement with the BCSC executive director.

Admitting to violations of the Securities Act when he was president and CEO of Arakis Energy Corporation, Alexander paid the BCSC $1.2 million and consented to an order prohibiting him from being a director or officer of any issuer, engaging in investor relations activities, and trading in securities, for 20 years.

On December 8, 2003, the executive director issued a notice of hearing against Alexander, JTA and Anne Christine Eilers alleging, among other things, that Alexander and JTA had contravened the consent order, and that Eilers, Alexander's business associate, had assisted him in doing so. 

The executive director alleged that Alexander acted as a director and officer of eight companies, including Pinewood Resources Ltd, and that he engaged in investor relations activities.

In 2005, a B.C. provincial court judge convicted Alexander of breaching the 1999 order by acting as a director and officer of four private companies, and fined him $2,000.

The commission panel found that Alexander contravened the order when he acted as a director and officer of seven companies - including Pinewood - and when he engaged in investor relation activities for Pinewood. The panel also found that Eilers assisted him in breaching the order by allowing him to direct and manage the affairs of JTA.

The panel dismissed allegations of unregistered trading against Alexander and JTA, and allegations that Eilers had helped Alexander conceal his Pinewood dealings.

In dissenting findings, commissioner Robin Ford found that the executive director had not proved that Alexander acted as a de facto director and officer of Pinewood, and dismissed all the allegations against Eilers.

The panel directed the parties to make submissions on sanctions according to the schedule set out in the findings.

The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities within the province. You may view the decision on our website www.bcsc.bc.ca by typing in the search box, James Terrence Alexander or Anne Christine Eilers or 2007 BCSECCOM 645. If you have questions, contact Ken Gracey, Media Relations, 604-899-6577.

Learn how to avoid investment fraud at the BCSC's investor education website: www.investright.org.