Emerge Canada: Cathie Wood-Linked ETF Firm Accused of Diverting Investor Funds
Cathie Wood’s Toronto-listed partner, Emerge Canada, is facing serious allegations from the Ontario Securities Commission, which claims the investment manager violated securities laws by diverting investor funds to prop up its own businesses.
The OSC says these transactions amounted to self-dealing loans of approximately C$6 million over nearly four years. Regulators contend that these actions left investors exposed when Emerge encountered financial distress.
Emerge Canada’s troubles became public when the firm was unable to file audited financial statements for 2022. Its auditor had resigned, prompting the OSC to ban trading in all 11 of the company’s funds, including six that followed the investment strategies of Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management, in April 2023.
A month later, the OSC found Emerge had insufficient capital, stripped it of its licenses to operate as an investment fund manager, portfolio manager, or exempt-market dealer, and ordered that the company be wound down.
“Emerge acted in its own interests by knowingly taking an estimated $6 million of investor money in self-dealing loans,” the OSC alleges in its enforcement filing.
Much of this money was reportedly channeled into Emerge’s businesses, which the regulator says were in financial peril. When the wind-down process concluded in December 2023, investors discovered they were unsecured creditors in the now-defunct funds.
Emerge owed $4.7 million to five of its Ark-partnered exchange-traded funds, money that was never repaid. A class action effort to recover those funds was abandoned in April 2024.
The case has drawn additional scrutiny because the OSC also named the three members of Emerge’s independent committee charged with overseeing its ETFs. The regulator contends that committee members “breached [their] duties to investors, caused the funds to enter into prohibited loans, failed to properly address the conflict of interest created by the receivable, and failed to maintain proper books and records, or an adequate system of controls and supervision.”
One lawyer representing two of the committee members calls the OSC’s action “unprecedented,” adding that “these women have impeccable records,” and “we believe the grounds that OSC enforcement is relying upon are tenuous.”
Information for this briefing was found via Bloomberg and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
Retail investors were defrauded. The monies seem to have vanished without hope of restitution. Criminal prosecution the least we can hope for. Unbelievable that this happened in this country!