CALGARY — The Alberta Securities Commission says Saint Jean Carbon Inc. has agreed to pay $62,500 and promised more scrutiny of its news releases in future to settle charges that it made misleading statements in February and March 2017 that were likely to affect its market price.
The commission says the Calgary-based junior resource company admitted to breaching securities laws in a Feb. 27, 2017, release that claimed it had received an order from Panasonic Corp. to supply graphite anode material to a manufacturing facility.
The release included a quote from CEO Paul Ogilvie noting that it was shipping finished material to the customer as part of an offtake agreement to supply "multiple tonnes of anode material monthly for a number of years," when in fact it had sent a free sample order of about five kilograms.
Saint Jean shares on the TSX Venture Exchange jumped from a 7.5-cent close the day before the announcement to 18.5 cents after the news came out and closed at 29.5 cents the next day.
On March 2, Saint Jean issued another news release clarifying that the size and value of the Panasonic “order” was nominal and noting that no offtake agreement had been signed.
In September, the company announced that William Pfaffenberger has been appointed president and chairman and that Ogilvie had agreed to continue in the position of CEO until an orderly transition was completed. In November, it announced that Pfaffenberger would also serve as the new CEO.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2020.
Companies in this story: (TSXV:SJL)
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