Andrew A. Duffy
Times Colonist

Tuesday, February 19, 2008


Disgraced investment adviser Ian Thow wants the record fine levied against him by the B.C. Securities Commission slashed and the costs of his appeal of that fine covered, according to documents filed with the B.C. Court of Appeal.

In the documents filed by Thow's lawyer Rod Anderson, the former Berkshire Investment Group vice-president contends the BCSC's hearing panel erred in retrospectively applying the financial penalty based on amendments made to the Securities Act.

The commission's hearing panel argued, when it handed down its ruling in December, that changes to securities law cleared the way to fine Thow $6 million and ban him for life from the capital markets.

Before those changes, which came into effect in 2006 and 2007, the maximum administrative penalty was $250,000.

Thow's lawyer argues the administrative penalty should be reduced to that $250,000 figure as his contraventions of the act took place prior to 2006.

Thow's former clients and creditors claim he bilked them out of more than $32 million by convincing them to invest in schemes that ranged from a Jamaican bank to loans for Vancouver developers and seed shares with Berkshire Investment Group.

The commission's hearing followed the trail of $6 million of those losses and found Thow never made the investments and instead used the money to pay for his lavish lifestyle.

At that time, the commission concluded that Thow's actions represented "one of the most callous and audacious frauds this province has seen."

aduffy@tc.canwest.com