April 29, 2004 Securities Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders

Montréal – Judge Antonio De Michele of the Court of Québec, District of Montréal, dismissed the motion filed by the Coopérative de producteurs de bois précieux Québec Forestales (the “Cooperative”) which sought to obtain a stay of execution of the decision rendered on October 15, 2003 by the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec (the “Commission”).

In the decision dated October 15, 2003, the Commission prohibited the Cooperative from distributing investment contracts or any other form of investment provided for in section 1 of the Securities Act (the “Act”). It also denied the use of the exemption provided for in paragraph 5 of section 3 of the Act. On November 10, 2003, the Cooperative appealed the decision to the Court of Québec. It also asked for a stay of execution of the Commission’s decision.

In his ruling, Judge De Michele concluded that the decision dated October 15, 2003 did not contain any apparent weakness and that the Commission was duly empowered to issue the cease trading order it did.

Consequently, the Cooperative must comply with the Commission’s decision and must not distribute preferred shares, investment contracts or any other form of investment set forth in the Act.

To read previous press releases issued in this case, please consult the Web site of the Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”), under the section Access to the sites of the organizations merged into the Autorité. Click on the link to the Commission and then on the link to the Commission’s archived press releases.

Established on February 1, 2004, the Autorité des marchés financiers is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec's financial sector. The AMF consists of the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec, the Bureau des services financiers, the Régie de l'assurance-dépôts du Québec, the Fonds d'indemnisation des services financiers and the Inspector General of Financial Institutions.

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