Onco Petroleum - BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltd, and four representatives from Rimouski fined $103,500
Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Securities
Montréal – On September 29, 2010, the Bureau de décision et de révision (the “Bureau”) imposed administrative penalties totalling $103,500 on BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltd. and four unrestricted practice representatives from the Rimouski branch in connection with the illegal distribution of shares of Onco Petroleum Inc.
The Bureau took note of an agreement between the Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”) and BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltd., Bernard Dionne, Jean-Marc Leblond, Michel Beaulieu and Mathieu Truchon. Under this agreement, BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltd. agreed to pay a fine of $50,000. In addition, Bernard Dionne, the manager in charge of the Rimouski branch at the time of the alleged events, agreed to pay a fine of $20,000. The representatives Jean-Marc Leblond, Michel Beaulieu and Mathieu Truchon agreed to pay fines of $20,000, $12,500 and $1,000 respectively.
The AMF accused the respondents of having made illegal distributions of shares of Onco Petroleum Inc. without a prospectus, without providing information to investors and by obtaining the signature of investors on non-solicitation certificates. The AMF also accused BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltd. of not adequately supervising the activities of its representatives at the Rimouski branch and of not taking the necessary steps to stop the distributions.
Under the agreement, BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltd. will provide special training to the employees of the Rimouski branch on the regulations applicable to private placements. Moreover, in the meantime, a special approval procedure for all private placements intended for clients of the Rimouski branch was set up by BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltd.
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec's financial sector.
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