October 22, 2010 Securities

Montréal – The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) reminds reporting issuers and insiders that the five-day deadline for reporting transactions in the System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) will take effect on November 1, 2010.

As a result, the six-month transition period in respect of the new five-day reporting deadline will no longer apply. Under the previous system, insiders were required to report securities transactions within 10 days. The 10-day filing deadline for initial reports has not changed however.

Consequently, reports not filed within the prescribed five-days will be published in the late insider report section of the weekly AMF Bulletin (Appendix 3 - Liste des déclarations d'initiés déposées hors délais).

Transition Period

The AMF is also announcing that it is implementing an additional transition period in respect of administrative monetary penalties for late insider reports. Therefore, for the period from November 1, 2010 to April 30, 2011, the AMF will not impose an administrative monetary penalty for a first offence committed by a reporting insider who fails to file a change in control over the securities of a reporting issuer within five-days of the transaction, provided that the insider reported the change in control no later than 10 days after the transaction.

Effective Information Measures

Since January 1, 2006, the AMF has imposed administrative monetary penalties on insiders who file late insider reports. Four years after the introduction of these penalties, the AMF has observed greater discipline by insiders with respect to reporting their transactions via SEDI. The percentage of late reports fell sharply from 8.6% in 2005 to 4% in 2010.

The AMF urges reporting issuers and insiders to ensure timely implementation of oversight of compliance with the 5-day reporting deadline. The AMF will continue to update reporting insiders to ensure that they comply with their obligation to report transactions within the prescribed deadline.

The list of late insider reports is published weekly in Appendix 3 of the AMF Bulletin (in French only).

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

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