AMF reports its monetary penalties represent more than 50% of penalties imposed in Canada

The Autorité des marches financiers (AMF) laid a total of 855 charges in 2009 under the Securities Act and under An Act Respecting the Distribution of Financial Products and Services.
The regulator obtained $81.6 million in sanctions, including administrative penalties imposed in connection with the settlement reached in the asset-backed commercial paper matter in December 2009, which alone accounted for $76.8 million.
Of the 855 charges laid, 674 were for violations of the Securities Act and 181 charges for violations under An Act Respecting the Distribution of Financial Products and Services.
Throughout last year the AMF sanctioned a total of 783 individuals.
Of those, 18 individuals and companies were sanctioned for violations under sections 115 and 117 of An Act Respecting the Distribution of Financial Products and Services. These sections deal with the insurance sector.
Decisions rendered in Quebec for securities law violations represent one-third of all similar decisions in other jurisdictions in Canada, an AMF release says.
Almost 95% of decisions handed down by judicial tribunals under Canadian securities legislation in 2009 took place in Quebec.
Also, decisions rendered in Quebec for securities law violations represent one-third of all related actions launched Canada-wide.
Monetary penalties imposed in Quebec represent more than 50% of penalties imposed in Canada, the release added.
Illegal distributions were the most common type of violation sanctioned in 2009 in Quebec (25 of the 48 cases settled by the AMF).
“In many of the actions launched in the past year, we sought penalties in excess of the minimum amounts prescribed by law for deterrent and exemplary purposes,” said Jean St-Gelais, AMF’s president and CEO.