Halfway through an SRO ban, ex-rep agrees to new suspension

A former mutual fund rep has effectively had an existing disciplinary suspension extended by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

Back in 2018, Jon Snelson reached a settlement with the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA). Snelson agreed to a four-year ban and monetary sanctions for engaging in unapproved outside business activity, which involved raising over $300,000 for a junior issuer, Threegold Resources Inc. Snelson also served as chief financial officer of Threegold.

Now, an OSC hearing panel has approved a separate settlement with Snelson and Victor Goncalves, who was president and CEO of Threegold, for violating securities law by raising funds for the company at a time when Threegold was subject to a cease trade order for failing to make required continuous disclosure filings.

According to the OSC settlement, Snelson and Goncalves also distributed securities without a prospectus and without being registered or having an exemption.

The settlement with the provincial regulator includes four-year bans, monetary penalties of $30,000 and costs of $10,000 for both men.

In its reasons, the OSC panel noted that Snelson’s four-year MFDA ban “has been running for almost two and a half years at this point. As a result, the sanctions agreed to here will extend the time period during which Mr. Snelson cannot carry on the business for which he had previously been registered, to at least six and a half years.”

The OSC noted that Goncalves has already paid his agreed sanctions, while Snelson has been unable to pay due to financial hardship.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.