Canada’s largest capital markets regulator has concluded a former Bay Street lawyer violated securities laws when he tipped a fraternity brother about pending deals his firm was working on.
Mitchell Finkelstein was found to have tipped Paul Azeff, who was at the time an adviser at CIBC. Azeff and others then traded on the information that had not been disclosed to the public.
A hearing to determine sanctions will be held May 21.
The three commissioners on the panel put little stock in Finkelstein’s testimony during the hearing last fall that lasted 26 days.
For example, Finkelstein spoke very little of his relationship and communications with Azeff during the relevant period from 2004 through 2007, the commission found. He did not clearly explain why he spoke to Azeff dozens of times annually or why there were 190 calls placed between them in 2007. Although Finkelstein had been a client of Azeff, the lawyer did make clear the calls were not about his small investment portfolio.
