Thalbinder and Shailu Poonian need not pay $13.5 million in fines imposed by the British Columbia Securities Commission for manipulating and selling the stock of a publicly traded company because they declared bankruptcy in 2018, the top court said Wednesday. But the duo will have to pay back the $5.6 million they made from the scam. (The Logic)

Talking point: The five-justice majority ruled that regulators aren’t covered by an exemption to the regular debt-releasing properties of bankruptcy, so the fines they impose wash away with all other liabilities. It also said the penalties aren’t a direct result of the pump-and-dump scheme, but rather the commission’s punishment for it. In a dissent, Justice Andromache Karakatsanis said the provision should be read to “ensure that dishonest debtors do not benefit from their dishonesty,” and that includes a securities commission’s sanctions to protect public interests and capital markets.