A British Columbia Securities Commission panel has banned Avtar Dhillon from British Columbia’s investment market for 20 years following his US convictions for securities offences. The panel ordered him to resign from any officer or director positions and imposed restrictions covering trading, corporate leadership, securities market advisory work and promotional activities. Dhillon pleaded guilty in 2022 to willfully failing to disclose stock sales, aiding and abetting sales of unregistered securities, and participating in a conspiracy involving undisclosed compensation for promoting securities. The offences involved selling 2.75 million Arch Therapeutics shares that he beneficially owned without a valid exemption and arranging undisclosed compensation for a newsletter analyst to promote an Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals securities offering. In 2024, he was sentenced to four months in prison followed by one year of supervised release and ordered to forfeit almost USD 1.5 million. The panel found that misconduct involving different issuers over periods separated by more than three years demonstrated a risk to the integrity of British Columbia’s capital markets. The 20-year restrictions prohibit Dhillon from trading in or purchasing securities or derivatives, except under very limited conditions, and from acting as a director or officer of any issuer or registrant. He is also barred from acting as a registrant or promoter, providing management or consulting services connected with securities market activities, and engaging in securities promotional activities.

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