BCSC Issues Lifetime Ban on GetSwift Executives After Australian Court Sanctions

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has permanently banned Bane Hunter and Joel Richard Stewart Macdonald from participating in B.C.’s investment market, following misconduct findings by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) related to GetSwift Limited, an “early stage” tech firm.

The sanctions stem from a 2021 ruling by the Federal Court of Australia, which found Hunter, CEO, chairman, and director, and Macdonald, also a director, liable for failing to disclose material information in GetSwift’s public announcements to the Australian Securities Exchange.

In 2023, the Australian federal court disqualified Hunter from managing corporations for 15 years and imposed a penalty of AUD 2 million. Macdonald received a 12-year disqualification and an AUD 1 million fine. The court noted that neither individual had shown “the slightest degree of remorse or contrition.”

According to BCSC, GetSwift relocated to British Columbia in 2020 under the name GetSwift Technologies and entered voluntary liquidation in 2022. The company had raised AUD 104 million, with AUD 80 million transferred overseas. Investors were unable to recover their funds.

The BCSC issued a cease trade order against GetSwift in 2022 over its failure to meet continuous disclosure obligations. That order remains in effect.

In its reciprocal enforcement decision, the BCSC panel stated that Hunter and Macdonald were “instrumental in GetSwift’s misrepresentations to Australian investors and in redomiciling GetSwift’s business to British Columbia,” resulting in investor harm. Both are now permanently prohibited from serving as directors or officers of any issuer or registrant, from becoming registrants, and from trading securities—except in personal accounts.