March 6, 2009 Securities Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders

Montréal – Michel Marcoux has pleaded guilty to the three counts brought against him in the Court of Québec (Criminal and Penal Division), district of Montréal.

In a suit filed on March 4, 2008, the Autorité des marchés financiers (the "AMF") accused Mr. Marcoux of violating the Securities Act, R.S.Q. c. V-1.1 (the "Act"), by hindering:

• a representative of the AMF in the exercise of his functions in the course of an inspection of the securities adviser Avantages, by falsely stating that he was unaware of the identity of the clients of Dominion Investments Ltd ("Dominion"), which held brokerage accounts at Avantages, thereby violating section 195 of the Act (1 count);
• a representative of the AMF in the exercise of his functions in the course of an investigation into Dominion, which held brokerage accounts at Avantages, by falsely stating to the inspector that the beneficial owners of the Dominion accounts he was managing were Dominion and/or the liquidator appointed in the Bahamas, thereby violating section 195 of the Act (2 counts).

The Court ordered Mr. Marcoux to pay a fine in the amount of $15,000 as sought by the AMF, which is five times the minimum fine prescribed by law.

Reference to the matter of Dominion Investments Ltd. and Martin Tremblay in the news release dated March 6, 2008 published at the time charges were served on Mr. Marcoux was solely intended to set out the investigation context in which Mr. Marcoux's testimony was required and not to associate Mr. Marcoux and his clients with the money laundering allegations filed against Martin Tremblay in the U.S.

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

— 30 —

Information:

Media only:
Sylvain Théberge: (514) 940-2176

Information Centre:
Québec City: 418-525-0337
Montréal: 514-395-0337
Toll-free: 1-877-525-0337