NIN 94/09 - Amendments to Sections 154.3 and 154.4 of the Securities Act [NIN - Rescinded]

Sections 154.3 and 154.4 of the Securities Act have been amended effective July 8, 1994. These amendments are contained in sections 10 and 11 of the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 3), 1994, S.B.C. 1994, c. 51, which received royal assent on July 8, 1994.

Section 154.3 provides a mechanism for the British Columbia Securities Commission to obtain evidence from a person outside the province. The Commission may apply to the British Columbia Supreme Court for a letter requesting a court outside of British Columbia to compel a person in that jurisdiction to give evidence for use in an investigation or a hearing before the Commission.

Section 154.4 provides a mechanism for a regulator outside British Columbia to obtain evidence from a person in the province. It permits the Supreme Court to respond to a request for assistance from a court outside of British Columbia, made on behalf of the securities regulator in the court's jurisdiction, in obtaining evidence for use in an investigation or a hearing in the other jurisdiction.

These sections were enacted in 1992. In March 1994, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia ruled that section 154.3, as then worded, could be used to obtain evidence for an investigation but not a hearing. The amendments make clear that evidence can be obtained under this mechanism for either an investigation or a hearing, as was originally intended.

An excerpt from the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 3), 1994, is attached to this Notice.

DATED at Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 26, 1994.

Douglas M. Hyndman
Chairman

Attachment

REF: NIN#92/15
NIN#92/24

ATTORNEY GENERAL

MISCELLANEOUS STATUTES AMENDMENT ACT (No. 3), 1994

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Securities Act

10. Section 154.3 of the Securities Act, S.B.C 1985, c. 83, is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following:

(1) Where it appears to the Supreme Court, on an application made by the commission, that a person outside of the Province may have evidence that may be relevant to

(a) an investigation ordered by the commission under section 126, or

(b) a hearing required or permitted under this Act or the regulations,

the Supreme Court may issue a letter of request directed to the judicial authority of the jurisdiction in which the person to be examined is believed to be located.,

(b) in subsection (3) by adding the following paragraph:

(a.1) order, in the case of an examination for the purposes of a hearing referred to in subsection (1)(b), that a person who is a party to the hearing is entitled to

(i) be present or represented by counsel during the examination, and

(ii) examine the person referred to in paragraph (a),,

(c) by adding the following subsection:

(3.1) The failure of the person entitled under subsection (3)(a.1) to be present or represented by counsel during the examination or to examine the person referred to in subsection (3)(a) does not prevent the commission from reading in the evidence at the hearing if the examination has otherwise been conducted in accordance with the order made under that subsection.,

(d) by repealing subsection (5)(b) and substituting the following:

(b) if known, a list of the names, addresses and telephone numbers of

(i) the solicitors or agents of the commission,

(ii) the person to be examined, and

(iii) where applicable, the person entitled under subsection (3)(a.1) to be present or represented by counsel during the exam-ination and to examine the person referred to in paragraph (3)(a),

both in the Province and in the other jurisdiction, and, and

(e) by adding the following subsections:

(8) The making of an order by a judicial authority referred to in subsection (1) pursuant to a letter of request issued under that subsection does not determine whether evidence obtained pursuant to the order is admissible in evidence in a hearing before the commission.

(9) Except where otherwise provided by this section, the practice and procedure in connection with appointing a person, conducting an exami-nation and certifying and returning the appointment under this section, as far as possible, are the same as those that govern similar matters in civil proceedings in the Supreme Court.

11. Section 154.4 is amended

(a) by repealing subsection (1)(c) and substituting the following:

(c) is issued in relation to

(i) a matter under investigation by the body referred to in paragraph (b), or

(ii) a matter that is the subject of a hearing before the body referred to in paragraph (b), and,

(b) in subsection (1)(d) by striking out "the matter" and substituting "a matter",

(c) in subsection (2) by adding the following paragraph:

(a.1) order, in the case of an examination for the purposes of a hearing referred to in subsection (1)(c)(ii), that a person who is a party to the hearing is entitled to

(i) be present or represented by counsel during the examination, and

(ii) examine the person referred to in paragraph (a),, and

(d) by adding the following subsection:

(6) Except where otherwise provided by this section, the practice and procedure in connection with appointing a person, conducting an exami-nation and certifying and returning the appointment under this section, as far as possible, are the same as those that govern similar matters in civil proceedings in the Supreme Court.