November 30, 2023 Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Securities

Montréal – On November 14, 2023, further to proceedings (pdf - 347 KB)This link will open in a new windowUpdated on May 24, 2023 instituted by the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”), the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) issued a decision (pdf - 2 MB)This link will open in a new windowUpdated on November 14, 2023 sanctioning the operators of the crypto asset trading platform coinex.com—that is, three entities operating under the name "CoinEx Global Limited" (the "CoinEx Entities")—Vino Global Limited and Haipo Yang for failing to comply with Québec securities and derivatives legislation.

The Tribunal imposed an administrative penalty of $2 million on the CoinEx Entities and Vino Global Limited, on a joint and several basis, and an administrative penalty of $300,000 on Haipo Yang.

The Tribunal also issued several orders against the respondents. Specifically, the Tribunal ordered the CoinEx Entities, Vino Global Limited, Haipo Yang and any other person operating the website coinex.com to permanently block access to the site effective two months after the decision date. The Tribunal also ordered the CoinEx Entities, Vino Global Limited and Haipo Yang to inform users of the coinex.com website, no later than two days after receiving notification of the decision, that the website will cease to be accessible to them effective two months after the decision date and that they must therefore withdraw any assets they have on the website and close their accounts as soon as possible.

The CoinEx Entities, Vino Global Limited and Haipo Yang acted as securities and derivatives dealers without being registered with the AMF. They also distributed securities and created or marketed derivatives without preparing a prospectus subject to a receipt issued by the AMF, benefitting from an exemption and being qualified by the AMF.

“This new decision follows the important decision obtained in XT.com earlier this year and is part of the AMF’s offensive against crypto asset trading platforms operating illegally in Québec that have not entered into pre-registration undertakings,” said Éric Jacob, AMF Executive Director, Enforcement. "The AMF will continue its coordinated efforts with other members of the Canadian Securities Administrators to ensure that crypto asset trading platforms comply with Canadian securities and derivatives legislation.”

In its decision, the Tribunal stressed that this case “[translation] requires that significant administrative penalties be imposed on the respondents, as their willful non-compliance with securities legislation must not be tolerated. Investor protection and the orderly functioning of financial markets are at stake. The imposition of such a penalty must discourage other crypto asset trading platforms that may be contravening securities legislation and must serve the purpose of motivating them to comply.”

Crypto asset trading platforms authorized to do business with Quebeckers are listed on the AMF website.

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

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