BC Couple Partially Victorious in Bankruptcy Fight With Securities Regulator

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that people fined by provincial securities regulators can wipe out penalties through bankruptcy, but orders to pay back ill-gotten gains remain in place. The ruling handed down on July 31 says penalties imposed by “administrative tribunals or regulatory agencies” are not covered by a list of exceptions in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, which outlines specific types of debts that “survive bankruptcy.” The case involved a B.C. couple, Thalbinder Singh Poonian and Shailu Poonian, who were ordered by the British Columbia Securities Commission to pay $13.5 million in administrative penalties and $5.6 million to repay those who lost money in a market manipulation scheme that “caused vulnerable investors to lose millions of dollars.”...