The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has temporarily halted trading on Green and Hill Industries Inc., a Nevada company that plans to enter the medical marijuana business with former pro snowboarder and Olympic gold medallist Ross Rebagliati.
The SEC announced the 10-business-day suspension on Tuesday, Aug. 5 "because of questions regarding the accuracy of publicly available information about the company's operations."
The B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) issued its own cease trade order on Friday, Aug. 1 for Green and Hill's failure to file the correct financial form, coming three months after it announced the reverse takeover of private entity, Rebagliati Gold Enterprises Ltd., a medical marijuana business aimed at gaining a foothold in the Canadian industry with sights set on opening several dispensaries and a line of related products through the Ross' Gold brand.
"What it comes down to is that we have a partnership with an unnamed licensed marijuana producer applicant out of Toronto," said Green and Hill president, and part-time Whistler resident, Patrick Smyth of the SEC suspension. "(Health Canada) has agreements with other licensed produced applicants, so we didn't disclose that because it's private."
Smyth said he volunteered the information to SEC once they made it clear it was required, saying the commission is "coming down hard on the sector" with more states considering relaxing their marijuana laws.
"We just have to be even more transparent with the U.S. regulators and make sure that our partner grower-applicants know that we have to be transparent," Smyth said.
The company's stock has been quite active in the U.S., with 10.5-million shares trading between June 4 and Aug. 4. It is allowed to begin trading again on Aug. 19.
Green and Hill had initially planned to begin fully reporting in the fall of 2014, but is now moving that schedule forward with plans to report with audited financials as soon as possible. The company filed its Annual Report on OTC Markets last month and is not required to file audited financials for OTC Pink Sheets.
In June, the BCSC questioned Green and Hill about a paid tout sheet from Florida publication, Breakaway Stocks, promising investors "giant-sized returns" and claiming, "You could watch as just $2,000 blossoms into $65, 580." Green and Hill subsequently denied any involvement with the newsletter.
"We tried to find out who it was (that was responsible for the tout sheet) and sent cease and desist letters," Smyth said. "We filed two press releases stating (the tout sheet) was false and misleading."
Meanwhile, Ross' Gold recently secured a merchandise deal to begin selling branded glassware and other cannabis paraphernalia as early as the fall in up to 450 stores across Canada.
Visit www.rossgold.com for more information.
