Article in La Presse dated October 13, 2006 - Scott Disher alters comments

Securities

Montréal – Further to the interlocutory injunction issued against Scott Disher on October 19, 2006 at the request of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and various discussions between the two parties, Mr. Disher has acknowledged, as part of an agreement, that the comments reported in an article published in La Presse on October 13, 2006 were incorrect.

The article entitled “Asselin enquêtait sur Norbourg” [Asselin Investigated Norbourg] reported comments made by Mr. Disher on the subject of Norbourg and Éric Asselin.

As part of the agreement entered into with the AMF, Mr. Disher has stated as follows in writing:

  • When he was in the employ of the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec (Québec Securities Commission), Éric Asselin was never mandated by the Commission to take part in any inspection or investigation, whether official or otherwise, with respect to the operations conducted by the Norbourg group of companies;
  • That the inspections and investigation conducted by the Québec Securities Commission and the AMF with respect to the operations conducted by the Norbourg group of companies were launched well after Éric Asselin resigned from the Commission and accepted an employment offer from Norbourg;
  • He never suggested to MJean Lorrain (former Director of Compliance at the Commission) to dismiss Éric Asselin before he resigned from the Commission and joined Norbourg.

Moreover, Mr. Disher explained that this was an honest mistake and that he had never intended to cause any harm to Me Lorrain or the AMF.

As a result of the agreement, the proceedings related to a permanent injunction launched by the AMF in Superior Court are terminated.

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

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