James Baillie, Q.C. and Edward Waitzer
After a lengthy trial on charges of improper insider trading and authorization of misleading news releases, John Felderhof has been found not guilty.
According to James Baillie, Q.C. (Counsel at Torys) and Edward Waitzer (a partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP), the legal process operated as it should. But important questions have emerged: Was the burden of proof that the OSC prosecutors were required to satisfy set unduly high? In light of this experience, should the Ontario Securities Commission staff elect to deal with future matters of this type through an internal process before a panel of OSC commissioners, rather than in the courts? Perhaps most importantly, why did it take 11 years from the time of the Bre-X fraud to arrive at this point?
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