December 16, 2005 Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Insurance

Montréal – The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced that it has reached an agreement with Equisure Financial Network Inc. which will conclude the investigation it initiated in March 2005 into the business practices of the damage insurance firms represented by the company.

“Our investigation has not detected any fraudulent act by the firms Equisure represents, nor has it identified anything indicating the firms’ clients had been injured or suffered damage. However, we have concluded that improvements are needed with respect to the disclosure to consumers of some insurance firms’ ownership interests, as well as corporate structure,” stated Jean St-Gelais, President and CEO of the AMF.

Under the agreement, Equisure will pay a total of $800,000. Equisure, whose shareholder is ING Canada, has also undertaken to make its practices more stringent with regard to disclosure to consumers of firms’ ownership interests and block transfers and to review its corporate structures.

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec’s financial sector.

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Information:

Media only:
Philippe Roy (514) 940-2176
Issuers, dealers, advisers and representatives: (877) 525-0337, choose option 9 for English, then 1 for industry
Consumers and investors: (877) 525-0337, choose option 9 for English, then 8 for consumers