Wendy Berman

The appellant appealed an order of the Superior Court of Justice regarding the interpretation of an agreement.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, agreeing with the application judge's analysis that Sections 8 and 2 of the agreement must be read together.

The court found the application judge's reasoning sufficient to dispose of the interpretative issue in favour of the respondents.

Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission brought a settlement hearing regarding the respondents John R. Miszuk and Kenneth G. Howling, former officers of Biovail Corporation.

Miszuk admitted to failing to take appropriate care in considering the recognition of revenue and foreign exchange accounting in Biovail's interim financial statements.

Howling admitted to failing to take greater care to ensure accurate information was disseminated to the investing public regarding the financial impact of a truck accident.

The Commission approved the settlement agreements, finding the agreed sanctions, which included reprimands, director and officer bans, and costs payments, to be within acceptable parameters and in the public interest.

The respondents brought a motion for an order requiring Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission to make meaningful disclosure of documents relevant to the specific allegations against them.

Staff had provided a database containing over 4.3 million pages of documents obtained during a four-year investigation, without separating relevant from irrelevant material.

The Commission held that Staff had not satisfied its legal obligation to make meaningful disclosure simply by delivering the massive database.

Staff was ordered to apply reasonable judgment to identify and disclose the documents relevant to the specific allegations against each respondent, rather than foisting the obligation to sift through the material onto the respondents.