January 29, 2013

Montréal - On January 15, 2013, the Bureau de décision et de révision (the "Bureau") issued orders prohibiting Pascal Lévesque Respondent Pascal Lévesque should not be confused with Pascal Lévesque of Desjardins Financial Security Investments Inc. in Chicoutimi and Lévesque Finance Inc. in Baie-Comeau, holder of certificate No. 121767, who is not affected by these orders. from acting as a securities adviser and investment fund manager, in particular through advertising on the Internet.

Through advertisements published on the Internet, Pascal Lévesque recently purported to be a "former institutional trader" now heading his "own investment firm" in order to solicit potential investors. Through advertisements, Mr. Lévesque promoted investments with a "guaranteed 4% return, and non-guaranteed from 4 to 15% or more" while he was not authorized to act as a securities adviser or investment fund manager.

Additional details regarding the investment methods proposed by Mr. Lévesque were obtained by an AMF investigator using a false identity, including that the investment was a "melting pot," i.e. an omnibus account through which, like an investment fund, he pooled money from various investors for trading purposes. Mr. Lévesque also allegedly asked for a certified cheque made payable to himself or his company, which was not registered with the Québec enterprise registrar.

Mr. Lévesque acknowledged these facts and agreed to the conclusions requested by the AMF. He is now subject to a prohibition against acting as a securities adviser and investment fund manager, including through Internet advertising.  The Bureau also ordered him to remove any advertisements similar to those mentioned above which may have been published.

Reminder to investors
In its most recent awareness campaign, 5bonnesquestions.ca This link will open in a new window (in French only), the AMF reminds consumers that it is important to check whether the person offering an investment product is authorized to do so by consulting the Register of firms and individuals authorized to practise that is available on the AMF's website. It also reminds consumers that it is important to be cautious when promised a return that is too good to be true or when something seems suspicious, such as being asked to pay by cheque made payable to the person who solicits you.

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

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