Administrative Penalties Imposed by Notice

The Executive Director of the BC Securities Commission can impose administrative penalties for less serious violations of investment market rules without holding a hearing before a panel of commissioners.

Administrative Penalties Imposed by Notice (APIN) can be used for violations of regulations or previous decisions of the Commission or Executive Director.

The APIN maximum penalty is $100,000 per violation for individuals and $500,000 per violation for entities, such as companies. The amount of the administrative penalty imposed by notice depends on the specific facts and circumstances of each particular contravention.

If the Executive Director believes a violation occurred and a penalty is warranted, a written notice will be delivered to the person or entity, specifying each violation, the penalty for each violation and the date by which the penalty must be paid or disputed.

If the person doesn’t dispute the notice, the penalty is owing and the notice will be published. If the person disputes the notice, the Executive Director will confirm whether the violation occurred, and whether the penalty remains appropriate. If a penalty is imposed, it will be made public.

The person can request that the Commission conduct a hearing and review of the Executive Director’s decision. As with other panel decisions, the affected party could appeal to the B.C. Court of Appeal.