March 22, 1999
(Government Services and Lands)

Temporary Stop Trading Order Issued by Securities Division

The Securities Division of the Department of Government Services and Lands today issued a Temporary Order pursuant to section 127(3) of the Securities Act on Cyril Wheeler of Summerford, New World Island. The order is to stop trading in securities for a period of 15 days.

During this 15-day period, Mr. Wheeler has the opportunity to provide satisfactory information to the Securities Division that he is not trading in securities. If he does not provide such information, the Securities Division will commence a process to enact a permanent order.

The temporary order has been issued as a result of a considerable number of telephone calls and face to face conversations with people in the New World Island area who have identified Mr. Wheeler as an individual who has offered investment opportunities to them or other people in the New World Island area.

Within the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, if an individual wishes to enter into the business of providing investment advice or selling investment contracts or other securities to the public, he or she must be registered and obtain a license under the Securities Act. An investment contract involves the investment of money with the expectation of profit, the success of which depends wholly or chiefly on the efforts of promoters or third parties, in the sense that their efforts will affect the success or failure of the investment.

To obtain a license to sell or advise in investments one must attain a set education level with respect to the products he or she is promoting and be part of a sponsoring firm. The sponsoring firm is also required to be registered under the Securities Act. The objective of registration is to protect the general public from people who are not qualified to perform the tasks of the profession.

The intent of the Order issued today is to investigate further into inquiries from the general public.

Media contact: Rick Callahan, Director of Communications, (709) 729-4860.

1999 03 22 9:30 a.m.