January 4, 2006 Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Securities

Montréal – The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has announced that it will henceforth impose administrative monetary penalties on issuers and insiders in default situations. On December 7, 2005, the Québec government approved the Regulation to amend the Securities Regulation for the purpose of allowing such penalties to be imposed.

Administrative monetary penalties will thus automatically be imposed for the following defaults:

• Reporting issuer – late filing of certain documents, such as financial statements.
• Insider or senior executive deemed to be an insider – failure to disclose his control or a change in his control over securities.

Should such documents or disclosures be filed late, sections 271.13 and 271.14 of the Securities Regulation sets out the following penalties:

• Reporting issuer – $100 per document for each business day during any given financial year of the AMF, to a maximum amount of $5,000.
• Insider or senior executive deemed to be an insider – $100 for each day per failure to report, to a maximum amount of $5,000.

“With these new penalties, the AMF will be able to enforce securities legislation even more effectively and thoroughly,” stated AMF President and CEO Jean St-Gelais. The administrative monetary penalties came into force on January 1, 2006.

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec’s financial sector. isme de réglementation et d’encadrement du secteur financier du Québec.

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Information:

Media only:
Philippe Roy (514) 940-2176
Issuers, dealers, advisers and representatives: (877) 525-0337, choose option 9 for English, then 1 for industry
Consumers and investors: (877) 525-0337, choose option 9 for English, then 8 for consumers