Bre-X action launched in B.C.
By PETER KENNEDY Vancouver Bureau The Financial Post
Wednesday, March 18, 1998
A Vancouver lawyer acting for about 300 Bre-X Minerals Ltd.
shareholders agreed yesterday to file a statement of claim
in the British Columbia Supreme Court.
But court proceedings will not begin in the province until a
Texas court decides next month whether B.C. investors can
join a giant Bre-X class action suit in the U.S. The
investors are anxious to join the Texas suit because, in
their view, shareholders get better treatment under U.S.
securities laws.
"My clients are going to receive more compensation in Texas
than they are in Canada - it's that simple,'' said David
Klein, the lawyer acting for the B.C. group. "There has
never been a certified securities class action in Canada,''
said Klein, who also represents investors in Alberta and
Nova Scotia.
Yesterday, he asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Donald
Brenner to delay legal proceedings in Vancouver until "there
is some clarity in the Texas litigation.'' That action is
set to begin March 30.
Klein has agreed to file a statement of claim for his
clients with the B.C. Supreme Court by May 30. He did so
after arguing such a move may turn out to be a waste of time
and money.
Aiming to recover some of the $3 billion wiped out last year
when Bre-X's Indonesia gold find turned out to be a scam,
shareholders have also launched a multibillion-dollar class
action suit in Ontario. That suit is being led by Windsor,
Ont., lawyer Harvey Strosberg.
"When all is said and done, we will have a series of
lawsuits in B.C. that are identical to Ontario,'' said James
Poyner of Poyner Baxter Blaxland, the Vancouver law firm
acting for the second group.
However, if the Ontario shareholders are certified as a
separate class action, Poyner has struck a deal with
Strosberg that would require his group to become part of a
Canada-wide class action. As a result, all litigation
launched by Poyner in B.C. would be dropped. |
