Alerts

Pat McCann on high profile white collar crimes, the media and the Canadian judicial system

Patrick McCann, a key member of Fasken Martineau’s White Collar Defence and Investigations Group, is featured on the cover of the latest issue of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Magazine. Pat comments in the magazine on the role of the media in high profile cases and its impact on the public and the justice system. Pat, who is an editor of the White Collar Post and counsel to Fasken Martineau, has himself been involved in many high profile criminal cases.

Head over to the National magazine to read the full article.

Analysis

Weinberg fraud convictions and sentences highlight consequences of corporate wrongdoing

While complex financial crimes can be difficult to investigate and prove, the Cinar and Livent cases serve to highlight the substantial risks of engaging in financial wrongdoing, not just for corporate executives who may be directly implicated, but also for those who assist in the wrongful activities.

The recent conviction and sentence imposed following the two year long criminal jury trial of Ronald Weinberg (“Weinberg”), co-founder of Cinar Corp. (“Cinar”), highlights the severe consequences facing those who carry out or assist in financial fraud and other white collar crimes.  The Globe & Mail called Weinberg’s guilty verdict a “vindication for a Canadian justice system that has often been criticized for weak enforcement and a poor record for criminal convictions in the area of white collar crime”.

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Africa, Analysis

White Collar Crimes: a menace to South African businesses

The slow rot of the private and public sector

Since the early 2000s, there have been numerous news reports in South Africa indicating that white collar crime is on the rise. From 2014, despite police statistic reports indicating an 11% decrease in economic crimes, independent studies conducted by PwC indicate a burgeoning increase in fraud, money laundering, corruption, collusion and bribery by senior management in companies and by politicians in high ranking government positions.[1]

South Africa has the potential to increase the number of its successful prosecutions if a greater emphasis is placed on the importance of prosecuting white collar crimes.

Economic crime is constantly evolving and becoming a more complex issue for organisations and economies.  In South Africa, more than two thirds of South African organisations have experienced economic crime.[2] The overwhelming cause of the increase in white collar crimes is that detection methods are not keeping pace, local law enforcement agencies place little to no emphasis on white collar crime, bundling together a broad range of illicit activity, including insider trading and credit card fraud together with public procurement fraud and private sector corruption, and there is a general failure to prosecute and punish these crimes effectively. Further, many individuals facing charges of fraud, corruption, money-laundering or insider-trading have the ability to delay prosecution by launching numerous appeals and other actions.[3]  This accompanied by South Africa’s back-logged High Court system, the inability of the National Prosecuting Authority (The NPA) to prosecute economic crimes and the poor levels of investigation by police services, in no way serves to deter individuals from committing such crimes.

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Alerts, Canada, Capital Markets Fraud & Insider Trading

OSC Launches Whistleblower Program

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has launched the Office of the Whistleblower and published OSC Policy 15-601 Whistleblower Program effective July 15, 2016. Together, these initiatives establish a new whistleblowing program that offers financial awards of up to $5 million for tips on possible violations of Ontario securities law that lead to enforcement action.

The OSC program allows whistleblowers to make anonymous reports to the OSC, and new protections have been enacted for whistleblowers that access the program. In particular, the Securities Act has been amended to add anti-reprisal provisions protecting employees who have sought advice about, expressed an intention to or actually provided information about a possible securities violation to the OSC.  In addition, the Act invalidates gag or confidentiality provisions or agreements that would otherwise silence or prevent whistleblowers from participating in an investigation.

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Alerts, Anti-Corruption & Bribery

Anti-Bribery & Corruption Enforcement Protects Immunity of Whistleblowers

The international landscape on the law with respect to whistleblowing is changing dramatically and quickly. The Supreme Court of Canada is the first national high court in the world to recognize and protect the role of whistleblowers, their identity, and immunity, from disclosure and criminal prosecution.  In its decision involving the World Bank Group,  it addressed the subject of whistleblower immunity in an international case.

The opening paragraph of the Supreme Court Judgment, delivered by Justices Moldaver and Cote, reads as follows:

“Corruption is a significant obstacle to international development.  It undermines confidence in public institutions, diverts funds from those who are in great need of financial support, and violates business integrity. Corruption often transcends borders.  In order to tackle this global problem, worldwide cooperation is needed.  When international financial organizations, such as the appellant World Bank Group, share information gathered from informants across the world with the law enforcement agencies of member states, they help achieve what neither could do on their own”.[1]

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