Decision in brief: Ontario Securities Commission v Sharpe, Application for Authorization to Disclose, September 28, 2026

In an earlier decision, the Tribunal found that Bridging Finance Inc. and three of its senior employees broke Ontario securities law in relation to various loans made by funds that Bridging managed. The three senior employees were David Sharpe, its chief executive officer, Natasha Sharpe, its chief investment officer, and Andrew Mushore, its chief compliance officer. Some of these loans were to companies controlled by Gary Ng, who was not part of the Tribunal proceeding. However, there is a criminal proceeding against Ng related to these loans.

The Superior Court ordered the OSC to provide to the Court certain confidential documents from the OSC’s investigation because they are likely relevant to the criminal proceeding against Ng. These documents include transcripts of the OSC’s interviews of the Sharpes and Mushore, who may be witnesses at Ng’s trial.

In this application, the OSC asks the Tribunal for permission to comply with the Court’s order and provide the documents. The Sharpes and Mushore said that the Tribunal should not give the OSC permission to provide the transcripts, because the Tribunal found in an earlier decision that the OSC had improperly provided them to the court without permission in a different proceeding. Alternatively, the OSC should only be allowed to provide the parts of the transcripts that relate to Ng.

The Tribunal gave permission to the OSC to provide the full transcripts. The Tribunal decided that it is in the public interest for the OSC to comply with an order of the Superior Court, and the OSC’s earlier improper disclosure does not change that. The Superior Court is in a better position to decide how the transcripts can be used in the criminal trial and whether any part of the transcripts should be made public.

The Tribunal noted but did not decide whether an earlier Ontario Court of Justice decision meant that the OSC did not need the Tribunal’s permission. That decision says that provincial legislation, such as the Securities Act, cannot affect the production or admissibility of evidence in a criminal case. Specifically, the section of the Act prohibiting disclosure of confidential documents from an OSC investigation does not apply to an order made in a criminal proceeding.