Latest news with #HarpreetSaini
Globe and Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Former newswire employee convicted of using unpublished press releases for insider trading
Toronto-area software developer Harpreet Saini must pay more than $1.4-million in fines and spend several months in jail after pleading guilty to insider trading. The sentence announced by the Ontario Securities Commission on Wednesday ends a years-long investigation into Mr. Saini's use of unpublished corporate press releases to trade securities. The OSC tried the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in order for a jail term to be imposed. Mr. Saini admitted to accessing non-public information between May 2018 and July 2021 when he was an employee of Intrado Corporation, which owned the GlobeNewswire service at the time. GlobeNewswire is among the largest sources of corporate disclosure globally and was most recently acquired in May, 2025, by shareholder services provider Equiniti. It distributes news releases on behalf of thousands of companies based in 90 countries around the world. Mr. Saini traded securities 553 times based on information gleaned from 497 unpublished press releases, according to the OSC, resulting in illicit gains exceeding US$770,000. GlobeNewswire employees in Toronto charged with insider trading and fraud In addition to spending six months less a day in jail, his sentence also requires Mr. Saini to repay roughly $1.15-million in ill-gotten profits plus a $100,000 penalty. Provincial law also imposes a mandatory 25 per cent fine surcharge on that amount, bringing his total financial penalty to $1,436,393.66. During the course of the investigation, OSC staff discovered WhatsApp conversations between Mr. Saini and John Natividad, another former GlobeNewswire programmer, discussing possible price movements in the publicly-listed shares of companies that were preparing to issue news through the service. Court records show the two programmers had found a way around the system maintained by GlobeNewswire to track which employees clicked on news releases before they were published. Employees could hover their cursor over a partial headline to reveal the full title 'without leaving an audit trail,' OSC forensic auditor Anthony Long said in an affidavit. The case against Mr. Natividad, who was charged alongside Mr. Saini in September, 2022, remains ongoing. 'Employees who have access to confidential corporate information have a duty to safeguard that information and not misuse it for their personal benefit,' Bonnie Lysyk,' executive vice president of enforcement at the OSC, said in an statement. 'Insider trading is illegal, and it erodes investor confidence in our markets.' This is one of the first major cases to be concluded under Ms. Lysyk's tenure as the market watchdog's top enforcer. She joined the OSC in October, 2024, after spending a decade as the auditor-general of Ontario. Penalties worth more than $1-million and punishments involving jail time are both rare in securities law violations. In its most recent fiscal year, the Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal – an independent division of the OSC – issued a total of $81.6-million worth of administrative penalties, disgorgement orders and settlement amounts. Sentences involving jail time must be issued by provincial courts as the Tribunal can only impose monetary penalties and ban individuals from trading securities serving as corporate officers or directors. According to the OSC's latest annual report, Ontario courts handed down a total of 57 months worth of jail sentences for matters referred to them by the regulator during its 2023-2024 fiscal year. The OSC also has a long history of struggling to collect the fines it issues. Its current collections rate is just 4.5 per cent, meaning it receives just $4.50 for every $100 in penalties levied.
Cision Canada
4 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
Harpreet Saini Guilty of Insider Trading
TORONTO , Aug. 6, 2025 /CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that Harpreet Saini of Brampton has been sentenced to six months less a day in jail after pleading guilty on July 25, 2024 to insider trading pursuant to s. 76(1) of Ontario's Securities Act. As part of his sentence, the Court ordered Mr. Saini to pay a fine in the amount of $1,149,114.93 encompassing disgorgement of all his profits and an additional $100,000. He will also be subject to various trading bans for 10 years pursuant to the Securities Act. In addition, the Provincial Offences Act imposes a mandatory 25% fine surcharge that brings Mr. Saini's overall exposure to $1,436,393.66. Mr. Saini acknowledged that between May 2018 and July 2021, he accessed material non-public information through his employer, a newswire distribution network specializing in corporate press releases. Mr. Saini worked as a software developer, which allowed him to access corporate press release headlines before they were published. He then traded securities 553 times based on the headlines of 497 unpublished press releases. In total, he realized illicit gains exceeding $770,000 USD from more than 400 trades. In September 2022, both Mr. Saini and a co-accused, John Natividad, were charged under the Securities Act. The charges relating to Mr. Natividad are still before the court. "Employees who have access to confidential corporate information have a duty to safeguard that information and not misuse it for their personal benefit," said Bonnie Lysyk, Executive Vice President, Enforcement, OSC. "Insider trading is illegal, and it erodes investor confidence in our markets. The OSC will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to root out this type of misconduct and pursue bad actors." This case was brought by the OSC's Criminal Investigations & Prosecutions team, which is part of the Enforcement Division of the OSC. They investigate securities-related frauds, market manipulation, and related misconduct, including the investigation of repeat offenders and those who breach Capital Markets Tribunal or Court orders and bans. Their primary objective is to protect investors and further enhance confidence in the Canadian capital markets through effective enforcement. To do this, they often partner and collaborate with other law enforcement agencies and police forces. Charges laid under the Securities Ac t are prosecuted by the OSC. Charges laid under the Criminal Code are prosecuted by the Ministry of the Attorney General. The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at
