August 7, 2008 Organization Securities

Montréal – On July 25, 2008, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), as part of its resolve to step up the fight against economic crimes, welcomed representatives from various securities regulatory bodies in Canada and the U.S. at a training seminar on emerging issues in insider trading and market manipulation with respect to equity markets, derivatives, boiler rooms and international trading.

Experts from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as well as from the AMF conducted the training seminar for some 80 members of Canadian securities regulators.

At the event, the AMF reminded participants that in March 2008, the Insider Trading and Market Manipulation Investigation unit was created to foster the development of specialized expertise and investigation techniques related to securities exchanges. Jean-François Fortin joined the AMF to serve as manager of the unit. Moreover, the AMF created Market Surveillance in 2007 as part of its efforts to enhance monitoring of suspicious market activity.

The AMF's effectiveness in fighting economic crimes such as market manipulation was recently recognized by Judge Céline Lacerte-Lamontagne, who handed down a guilty verdict on July 31, 2008 against Benoît Laliberté and ordered him to pay a hefty fine of almost $900,000. The penalty is a reminder that insider trading and misrepresentations are unacceptable conduct for which heavy penalties should be imposed.

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

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