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CannTrust will 'likely' miss its deadline of Aug. 14, 2019 to file an upcoming interim financial report 'for the three and six month periods ending June 30, 2019.' CannTrust statement confirming the investigation

In past cases, such as a probe of Glencore subsidiary Katanga Mining, the OSC has urged companies to disclose the existence of an investigation to investors and potential investors.

In Thursday’s statement, CannTrust said that it would “likely” miss its deadline of Aug. 14, 2019 to file an upcoming interim financial report “for the three and six month periods ending June 30, 2019.”

On July 11, the company halted all sales of cannabis across the country and abroad, and is currently generating little to no revenue.

CannTrust currently estimates that the value of the “impacted inventory and biological assets” is approximately $51 million as at June 30, 2019. Just days after receiving a non-compliance order from Health Canada, Aceto told the Financial Post that some of the product grown in unlicensed rooms at its Niagara facility had already been sold to the provinces. As such, some unlicensed product may have been reflected in the company’s previous earnings statements.

“The effects of the pending Health Canada decisions may also require restatement of certain of the company’s historical financial statments for the periods ended Dec. 31, 2018 and March 31, 2019,” the statement read.

CannTrust also confirmed that it has established a “blackout” on trading by “directors, officers and other insiders of the Company” and intends to continue the blackout until it files its next quarterly earnings.

— With files from Barbara Shecter