Suit against IIROC dismissed by B.C. court

By James Langton | December 23, 2019 | Last updated on December 23, 2019
2 min read

A B.C. court has rejected a suit against the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) alleging that the self-regulatory organization acted unfairly in bringing disciplinary action against a former rep.

The Supreme Court of B.C. has dismissed an action by Scott Lower, a former rep with Global Securities Corp, alleging that IIROC breached its contract with him and acted in bad faith when it disciplined him back in 2009.

Lower also alleged that IIROC acted in bad faith when it published a news release in 2016 announcing that the B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) had dismissed Lower’s bid for a review of the IIROC decision against him.

The court ruled that the bulk of Lower’s lawsuit should be dismissed because it exceeded the limitation period.

“Mr. Lower’s action is barred as it must have been commenced by September 1, 2015,” the court ruled.

The suit wasn’t filed until January 2018.

On the issue of whether IIROC acted in bad faith when it issued the news release in 2016, the court said that Lower argued there are no provisions in IIROC’s rules allowing it to publish BCSC decisions.

IIROC argued that the news release is required by its recognition order with the provincial regulators, and is intended to ensure the transparency of its disciplinary process.

The court found that publishing a news release is consistent with IIROC’s mandate to protect investors and market integrity.

“In my view Mr. Lower has not established any fact that would support bad faith by IIROC in publishing the news release,” the court said.

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James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.