The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that Harpreet Saini of Brampton has been sentenced to six months less a day in jail after pleading guilty on July 25, 2024 to insider trading pursuant to s. 76(1) of Ontario’s Securities Act.
As part of his sentence, the Court ordered Mr. Saini to pay a fine in the amount of $1,149,114.93 encompassing disgorgement of all his profits and an additional $100,000. He will also be subject to various trading bans for 10 years pursuant to the Securities Act. In addition, the Provincial Offences Act imposes a mandatory 25% fine surcharge that brings Mr. Saini’s overall exposure to $1,436,393.66.
Mr. Saini acknowledged that between May 2018 and July 2021, he accessed material non-public information through his employer, a newswire distribution network specializing in corporate press releases. Mr. Saini worked as a software developer, which allowed him to access corporate press release headlines before they were published. He then traded securities 553 times based on the headlines of 497 unpublished press releases. In total, he realized illicit gains exceeding $770,000 USD from more than 400 trades.
In September 2022, both Mr. Saini and a co-accused, John Natividad, were charged under the Securities Act. The charges relating to Mr. Natividad are still before the court.
“Employees who have access to confidential corporate information have a duty to safeguard that information and not misuse it for their personal benefit,” said Bonnie Lysyk, Executive Vice President, Enforcement, OSC. “Insider trading is illegal, and it erodes investor confidence in our markets. The OSC will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to root out this type of misconduct and pursue bad actors.”
This case was brought by the OSC’s Criminal Investigations & Prosecutions team, which is part of the Enforcement Division of the OSC. They investigate securities-related frauds, market manipulation, and related misconduct, including the investigation of repeat offenders and those who breach Capital Markets Tribunal or Court orders and bans. Their primary objective is to protect investors and further enhance confidence in the Canadian capital markets through effective enforcement. To do this, they often partner and collaborate with other law enforcement agencies and police forces. Charges laid under the Securities Act are prosecuted by the OSC. Charges laid under the Criminal Code are prosecuted by the Ministry of the Attorney General.
The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.ca.
