Use of monies collected following ABCP investigation - AMF emphasizes
education, prevention and enforcement

MONTREAL, June 30 2010 /CNW Telbec/ - The Autorité des marchés financiers (the "AMF") today announced that it plans to use the monies collected following the investigation into the Canadian asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market for the purpose of consumer education and investor protection, the prevention of financial market offences, and enforcement.

On December 21, 2009, the AMF announced that it had reached settlements with National Bank Financial and Laurentian Bank Securities. The AMF maintained that these institutions failed to adequately respond to issues in the third party ABCP market, as they continued to buy and/or sell without engaging compliance and other appropriate processes for assessing the impact of such issues. Under the settlements, the AMF collected $72.8 million in administrative penalties.

Consumer education and investor protection

In accordance with the Act respecting the Autorité des marchés financiers, the AMF will pay 50% of the monies collected into the Education and Good Governance Fund (EGGF), which is dedicated to education and knowledge. The EGGF helps to educate consumers and protect investors, promote good governance, and enhance knowledge in all fields related to the AMF's mission.

Securities enforcement and crime prevention

The AMF will use the remaining half of the monies collected to develop new initiatives to enhance securities enforcement and prevent financial market offences. Its goal is to maximize the use of human and technological resources for financial market information and monitoring.

The AMF plans in particular to draw on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a basis for creating a team of financial market specialists dedicated to trends, the latest practices and new products. This team, which will include economists, financial analysts and other specialists, will be mandated to assist and support the AMF staff assigned to investigations, inspections and securities markets.

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

    
    Information:
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    Media only:
    Sylvain Théberge: 514-940-2176

    Information Centre:
    Québec City: 418-525-0337
    Montréal: 514-395-0337
    Other areas: 1-877-525-0337

    www.lautorite.qc.ca
    

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For further information: Media only: Sylvain Théberge: 514-940-2176; Information Centre: Québec City: 418-525-0337; Montréal: 514-395-0337; Other areas: 1-877-525-0337; www.lautorite.qc.ca