Premier Campbell Should Intervene In B.C. Securities Commission

The commission held a hearing into Bock's conduct. Six of Bock's former clients -- most of them elderly -- told very sad stories of how they had entrusted Bock with their money, and how she betrayed them. The panel found that, with respect to four of these clients, she had sold them unsuitable investments and failed to properly advise them of the risks. Also, they didn't qualify as sophisticated investors, so she shouldn't have sold these investments to them in the first place. Now these may sound like technical offences, but they aren't. They drive right to the heart of the duties and responsibilities of a registered securities salesperson. Also, these clients are just the tip of the iceberg: Over the past several months, dozens more have called to tell me how Bock sold them these sorts of investments, and how they have suffered as a result. "Her conduct could hardly be less consistent with the role and responsibility of a registrant," the panel concluded. "We find it particularly troubling that, in her submissions, she has shown no real understanding of what she has done and no remorse. She is still unwilling to acknowledge her breaches." (Bock is now registered as an insurance agent and is flogging insurance products and segregated funds. On Thursday, I reported that she was planning sales seminars at the West Point Grey Community Centre and the Arbutus Club. After learning of her regulatory problems, however, both venues cancelled, forcing her to move to the Holiday Inn on West Broadway.) BCSC enforcement staff asked the hearing panel to suspend her for three to five years, and fine her $60,000. This was a joke. By any rational measure, she should have been barred from the market for life and assessed the maximum $250,000 fine. But no, not with this securities commission. Even five years was too much or them to contemplate. Three years and a $25,000 penalty would be just fine. Under the terms of her suspension, she can't sell non-registered investments (such as cranberry farms) for three years. And she can't conduct investor relations for any company during this period. But she can be an officer and director of a public company, and she can trade for her own account. She relinquished her mutual fund licence some time ago and it's unlikely she could get reinstated during her suspension. But after three years, when she has supposedly atoned for her sins, she would be free to sell ostrich farms, if she liked. She could also reapply for her securities licence, and with this commission, I am sure she would get it. For the record, the panel was headed by full-time commissioner Robin Ford and included part-time commissioners Marc Foreman and Robert Milbourne. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=3bc3b54b-d8f0-402d-b0cb-dd738eb80f08&p=1

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