June 2, 2022 Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Securities

Montréal – On May 30, 2022, in a decision rendered further to an ex parte request from the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”), the Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers (the “Tribunal”) issued various orders against Timechain Technologies Inc. (“Timechain”), Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard, Mathieu Cocher and persons related to them. Specifically, the Tribunal:

• ordered the respondents to cease directly or indirectly engaging in any transaction in securities subject to the Securities Act;
• ordered the respondents to cease acting as securities dealers or advisers within the meaning of the Securities Act, including directly or indirectly engaging in any promotion, solicitation or representation activities, via the Internet or any other means, in connection with the cryptotrading fund operated by Timechain;
• ordered Timechain, Louis Cléroux and Jérémie Picard to refrain from withdrawing funds, securities or other assets from any other person having them on deposit, under control or in safekeeping on behalf of Timechain;
• ordered Scotiabank and Caisse Desjardins not to directly or indirectly dispose of the funds, securities or other assets they have on deposit, under control or in safekeeping on behalf of Timechain;
• ordered the platforms Binance, FTX Exchange, Fireblocks, Apaylo Finance Technology Inc. and VirgoCx Inc. not to directly or indirectly dispose of the cryptocurrencies they have on deposit, under control or in safekeeping on behalf of Timechain, Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher; and
• ordered the respondents and the impleaded parties Hui Ying (Liliana) Sun and Natania Lemieux not to directly or indirectly dispose of the funds, securities or other assets in their possession, including any cryptocurrencies, obtained as a result of Timechain’s illegal securities trading activities and investments.

By issuing these orders, the Tribunal recognized the urgency of the situation and that it was in the public interest to take immediate action.

Background

According to the AMF’s investigation, Timechain, Louis Cléroux and Jérémie Picard distributed securities without a prospectus subject to a receipt issued by the AMF, failed to fulfil undertakings with the AMF and provided false information in response to questions from AMF investigators.

It also appears that Timechain, Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher acted as securities dealers without being registered as such with the AMF.

Currently, this matter appears to involve at least 12 investors who invested a total of nearly $6 million. Substantially all of that money appears to have been withdrawn from the bank accounts and cryptocurrency accounts identified by the respondents as belonging to Timechain. Moreover, the respondents appear to have used a portion of the investors’ money to pay operating expenses of Timechain and personal expenses of Louis Cléroux rather than investing it in the cryptotrading fund operated by Timechain as represented to investors.

The AMF is currently investigating the activities of Timechain, Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher.

Anyone with relevant information about this matter can contact investigator Odile Simard by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 514-395-0337, ext. 2609.

Update

On July 19, 2022, the Tribunal published the reasons for its May 30, 2022 decisions (pdf - 532 KB)This link will open in a new windowUpdated on July 19, 2022.

Timechain, Louis Cléroux and Jérémie Picard have filed notices of contestation of the May 30, 2022 decision.

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

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