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MARCH 26, 2004 - 09:30 ET
B.C. Securities Commission Former Oil and Gas Executive
Admits to Insider Trading
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Mar 26, 2004) - The
B.C. Securities Commission has reached a settlement with a former
executive of a B.C.-headquartered oil and gas exploration company
after he admitted to insider trading.
Donald Wayne Busby has agreed to be banned from securities
trading for at least four years with conditions on what he must
do in order to sell securities already held in his account as of
March 18, 2004. He cannot be a director or officer of any issuer
for at least four years, nor can he engage in investor relations
activities.
As part of the agreement, Busby must pay the BCSC $75,000 -- a
sum equal to the loss that he avoided through his insider
trading. He has also agreed to pay $10,000, half of which
represents the costs of the investigation.
Busby, now a Colorado resident, was the chairman, chief executive
and a director of Hilton Petroleum Ltd., a company listed on the
Canadian Venture Exchange in March 2001. He admitted to learning
on March 14, 2001 that a gas well in a joint venture in which
Hilton held over a 12 percent interest, was producing gas flows
at levels below expectations with a significant amount of water.
Busby bought and sold 380,200 Hilton shares and avoided losses of
about $75,000 between March 14 to March 20, 2001 before the
drilling results were disclosed.
The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial
government agency responsible for regulating trading in
securities and exchange contracts within the province. The
settlement can be accessed through the commission's website
www.bcsc.bc.ca or by contacting Andrew Poon, Media Relations,
604-899-6880.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
B.C. Securities Commission
Andrew Poon
(604) 899-6880 or (B.C. & Alberta) 1-800-373-6393
Website: www.bcsc.bc.ca |
