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Third Session, Thirty-Seventh Legislature

This version is based on the printed bill that was distributed in the Legislature after First Reading.
It is not the official version.   If accuracy is critical, you can obtain a copy of the printed bill from Statutory Publications.

Bill 24

THE SECURITIES AMENDMENT ACT


Explanatory Note

(Assented to                                         )

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

C.C.S.M. c. S50 amended

1

The Securities Act is amended by this Act.

2

The following is added after subsection 2(8):

Commission may add members

2(9)

Despite subsection (1), for the purpose of conducting a hearing when compensation for financial loss is claimed under section 148.2, the commission may, with the approval of the minister, add qualified persons to the commission to assist and advise it in conducting the hearing.  A person added has all the powers of a commissioner with respect to the hearing.

3(1)

Subsection 30(1) is replaced with the following:

Appeal to The Court of Appeal

30(1)

A person or company affected by a direction, decision, order or ruling of the commission given or made under this Act or under any other Act of the Legislature may appeal to The Court of Appeal.

Leave to appeal

30(1.1)

An appeal under subsection (1) may be made only with leave obtained from a judge of The Court of Appeal.

3(2)

Subsection 30(2) is repealed.

3(3)

Subsection 30(3) is amended by striking out everything after "commission".

3(4)

Subsection 30(4) is repealed.

3(5)

Subsection 30(6) is replaced with the following:

Powers of Court on appeal

30(6)

The Court of Appeal on hearing the appeal may

(a) make any decision or order that in its opinion ought to have been made;

(b) quash, vary or confirm the commission's direction, decision, order or ruling; or

(c) refer the matter back to the commission for further consideration in accordance with any direction of the Court.

3(6)

Subsection 30(7) is amended by striking out "judge" and substituting "Court".

3(7)

Subsection 30(8) is replaced with the following:

Stay pending appeal

30(8)

The commission's direction, decision, order or ruling remains in effect pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal unless it is stayed by the Court, on application, pending the appeal.

4

Subsection 59(5) is amended by striking out "a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench" and substituting "The Court of Appeal".

5

Subsection 142(1) is replaced with the following:

Protection from liability

142(1)

No person may commence or maintain an action or other proceeding against the Crown, the commission, the director or another person mentioned in subsection (1.1), for any act done in good faith, or any neglect or default, in the performance or intended performance in good faith of a responsibility or in the exercise or intended exercise in good faith of a power or discretion

(a) under this Act or the regulations; or

(b) under any other Act of the Legislature or other regulations under which the commission or the director has responsibilities, powers or discretion.

Other persons protected

142(1.1)

The other persons protected from liability are

(a) employees employed under the commission;

(b) persons appointed under this Act or engaged in its administration;

(c) persons appointed by the commission under any other Act of the Legislature; and

(d) other persons acting for or under the direction of the commission or director.

6

The following is added after section 148.1:

Compensation for financial losses

148.2(1)

On the application of a claimant, the director may, when the commission holds a hearing about a person or company, request it to make an order that the person or company pay the claimant compensation for financial loss.

Director's decision not reviewable

148.2(2)

Despite subsection 29(1), the director's decision whether to make a request is not reviewable.

Order by commission

148.2(3)

When so requested by the director, the commission may order the person or company to pay the claimant compensation of not more than $100,000. for the claimant's financial loss, if after the hearing the commission

(a) determines that the person or company has contravened or failed to comply with

(i) a provision of this Act or the regulations,

(ii) a direction, decision, order or ruling of the commission, or a rule made under subsection 149.1(1),

(iii) a written undertaking made by the person or company to the commission or the director, or

(iv) a term or condition of the person or company's registration;

(b) is able to determine the amount of the financial loss on the evidence; and

(c) finds that the person or company's contravention or failure caused the financial loss in whole or in part.

Compensation orders against employers and others

148.2(4)

If the contravention or failure occurs in the course of the person or company's employment by another person or company, or while the person or company is acting on behalf of the other in any other capacity, the commission may order the other person or company to jointly and severally pay the claimant the financial compensation ordered under subsection (3).

Meaning of "employment"

148.2(5)

For the purposes of subsection (4), a person or company is employed by another person or company when

(a) an employer–employee relationship exists; or

(b) the first person or company is registered under this Act through the second person or company.

Compensation order is in addition to other sanctions

148.2(6)

The commission may make an order despite the imposition of any other penalty or sanction on the person or company, or the making of any other order by the commission, related to the same matter.

Court proceedings take precedence

148.2(7)

The commission shall not make an order if the claimant has commenced a civil court proceeding for compensation for the same loss.

Claimant to inform commission about action

148.2(8)

A claimant shall inform the commission without delay after commencing a civil court proceeding for the same loss.

No right of action after hearing begins

148.2(9)

Once the commission opens a hearing where a claim for compensation for financial loss is one of the matters before it, the claimant is not entitled to commence a civil court proceeding for compensation for the same loss or any unclaimed loss arising out of the same transaction.

Enforcement of order

148.2(10)

Despite subsection (9), a claimant in whose favour the commission makes an order may file a certified copy in the Court of Queen's Bench.  The filed order is enforceable as a judgment of the court in favour of the claimant and against the person or company the commission ordered to pay the compensation.

Coming into force

7

This Act comes into force on a day fixed by proclamation.

Explanatory Note

This Bill gives The Manitoba Securities Commission the power, in the course of an administrative hearing, to make an order of compensation for financial loss.  The maximum payment that may be ordered is $100,000.

The Bill also

  • allows additional members to be added to the Commission to take part in hearings when compensation for financial loss is claimed; and
  • amends the process for appealing a decision of the Commission so that an appeal is made directly to The Court of Appeal, rather than first to the Court of Queen's Bench.