Amaya chief Baazov hit with five insider dealing charges
CEO maintains his innocence after Quebec financial regulator files 23 charges against him, an employee and an advisor
Amaya CEO David Baazov says he will âvigorously contestâ five charges of insider trading filed against him today following an investigation carried out by the financial regulator in Quebec. [private]
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) filed a total of 23 charges against Baazov, an employee and an advisor relating to activity in the run up to its $4.9bn acquisition of PokerStars.
The charges against Baazov include aiding with trades while in possession of privileged information, influencing or attempting to influence the market price of Amaya stock, and communicating privileged information.
âThese allegations are false and I intend to vigorously contest these accusations,â Baazov said in a statement.
âWhile I am deeply disappointed with the AMFâs decision, I am highly confident I will be found innocent of all charges,â he added.
Amaya said the charges relating to communicating privileged information involve allegations regarding a former financial advisor to the firm, named by the AMF as Yoel Altman.
The charges of influencing or attempting to influence the market price of Amaya securities involve allegations relating to Altman and an employee, named by the AMF as Benjamin Ahdoot.
The gaming giant said the allegations against Baazov were âwithout meritâ and that it expected the chief exec to be âfully exoneratedâ.
âDavid Baazov has the full support of the independent member of the board,â lead director and independent board member at Amaya, Dave Gadhia, said.
The firm said it had conducted an external internal review which closely examined the relevant activities surrounding the PokerStars takeover, and found âno evicenceâ of any violations of Canadian securities laws or regulations.
âThe independent members of the board received and reviewed the information and concluded that no action should be taken. We have not been provided with any new information upon which the AMF’s allegations of infractions are based,â Gadhia added.
The AMF said its investigation related to activity between December 2013 and June 2014, with those charged using privileged information for trading purposes. The AMF also alleges some of the respondents âconspired to commit some of the offences.â
âWe have made suppressing illegal insider trading and market manipulation a top priority, as this type of conduct profoundly affects public confidence and the integrity of our markets,â AMF chief exec Louis Morisset,â said.