Property developer violated securities law

Alberta commission says company exposed investors to financial risks

A sometimes Albertan who headed an enterprise called Atlantic Tides that was to develop and sell recreational land in Nova Scotia, has been found to have violated Alberta securities law by making misrepresentations to investors.

The Alberta Securities Commission announced Friday that a panel had found Douglas Gordon Campbell, Atlantic Tides Inc. and Atlantic Tides Mortgage Investment Corp. each made misrepresentations that “exposed those investors to financial risks they did not anticipate, and delivered actual financial harm.”

The ASC panel also found that Campbell made a prohibited representation, that ATI breached a filing requirement, and that Campbell authorized, permitted or acquiesced in the two companies’ respective breaches of Alberta securities laws.

The ASC panel dismissed allegations that Campbell and ATI engaged in illegal trading and distributions.

In its notice of hearing last July, the ASC said Campbell lived in either Nova Scotia or Sherwood Park, just east of Edmonton, at the time of the alleged offences in 2009 and 2010.

It claimed ATI sold debentures to raise at least $425,000 from five investors, telling them they were secured by land when they were not.

It said ATMIC raised $1.3 million from 51 Alberta investors.

On Friday, the ASC invited submissions on sanctions before April 10.