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Enforcement Roundup – July 2025 

Illustration of two people holding up a shield to convey enforcement action
The July 2025 Enforcement Roundup highlights four enforcement activities from the BCSC and CIRO. There are also 23 new additions to the Investment Caution List.  

The July 2025 Enforcement Roundup highlights four enforcement activities from the BC Securities Commission (BCSC) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). There are also 23 new additions to the Investment Caution List.  

BCSC Enforcement  

BCSC Findings  

Richard Yung Shyang Chen 

A Richmond resident has been found guilty of unregistered trading and trading without filing a prospectus. Chen was convicted and fined $4,001 following a trial with the Vancouver Provincial Court.  

Chen, a registered mutual fund dealing representative, promoted and facilitated two trades in investment contracts that were outside the scope of his registration.  

Read the news release for full details.  

BCSC Settlement Agreement 

Kazana Financial Inc. (formerly Kazana Capital Corp.) 

A BC-based corporation has paid $30,000 for facilitating trades of more than $6 million in investments while unregistered. At the time that it distributed mutual fund trust units to 166 investors in 2021 to 2023, Kazana was not registered under the Securities Act and did not qualify for an exemption from the requirement.  

Kazana sought legal advice which led it to believe that registration was not required. After further advice, Kazana became registered as an exempt market dealer. There is no evidence that any investors were harmed or lost any money from the misconduct.  

Read the news release for full details.  

CIRO Enforcement  

CIRO Sanctions 

Hongjia Liu 

Between June 2017 and December 2019, Liu – a then Registered Representative at RBC Dominion Securities in Vancouver – executed about 15,000 futures trades for 23 clients without confirming key details like quantity, price, and timing. Despite policies and rules prohibiting discretionary trading without proper authorization, Liu pursued a high-risk, high-volume strategy across more than half of his 63-client futures book resulting in steep losses.  

Liu agreed to:  

  • A suspension from acting in a registered capacity for six months  
  • A fine of $75,000  
  • Paying back $225,000 of money owed 
  • Paying $15,000 costs to CIRO 

Read the news release for full details.  

Jonathan Thomas Jones  

Jones, a Vancouver-based Registered Representative, admitted to breaching market rules after executing an off-market trade involving shares of LFNT – a mineral exploration company where his father was a founding director. Despite guidance from his firm – Haywood Securities – to avoid such trades, he sold 600,000 shares and 400,000 warrants off-market. This was later reversed and re-executed in the market after the firm discovered the unauthorized transaction.  

Jones admitted to his misconduct and agreed to:  

  • A fine of $21,000  
  • Costs of $2,000  

Read the news release for full details.  

BCSC Early Intervention  

Our Investment Caution List notifies British Columbians about unqualified investments and unregistered activity originating outside the province but accepts BC residents as clients.  

Below are the July additions to the Investment Caution List

CanadaBitAI 

Platinum Shares Solutions  

Goldman Markets (no relation to the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.)  

SafeX Pro  

Raliplen  

GREEN EXC LIMITED, operating as EXC500  

RiseGrandAction  

Ally Fortress 

Wealth Edge Investments  

SM Trading Center   

North Elvox 

BVX 

Artosnomics 

Sentinel STO  

Royal Wealth (no relation to Royal Wealth Management in the US)  

EQXE 

PandoraProfit 

FMCPAY (no relation to FUINRE, INC. which operates FMCPay.com)  

Aquila Markets 

PT-Option  

Gold Sky Global 

AFEX Group International Inc. operating as Afex Markets (no relation to Afex Markets Europe Limited in Ireland)  

Edengate Wealth Management  

Report a Concern  

If you have concerns about a person or company offering an investment opportunity, please contact the BCSC Contact Centre at 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 or by e-mail at [email protected]. You can also file a complaint using BCSC’s online complaint form

If you have information relating to fraud or serious market misconduct, you can securely submit tips through our Whistleblower program. Qualified tips may be eligible for cash rewards up to $500,000. 

InvestRight.org is the BC Securities Commission’s investor education website. Subscribe to receive email updates from BCSC InvestRight. 

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