Ontario Securities Commission Names Four Men in Complaint

Published on 2017-04-14 15:36:00

Toronto financial district - Bay Street - Ontario - Blue highrise.Stock market regulators continue to have a field day with the Amaya/Pokerstars transaction that took place nearly three years ago.

Earlier this week, the Ontario Securities Commission accused three men of "improper tipping" and "insider trading" in the Amaya/Pokerstars transaction.

According to the OSC, the President and Chief Investment Officer of Aston Hill Asset Management, Ben Cheng, learned of the then-pending Amaya/Pokerstars transaction after signing a non-disclosure agreement. The OSC alleges that Cheng alerted John David Rothstein, Aston Hill's then Senior Vice President and National Sales Manager, of the transaction and told him to spread the news to some of the firm's clients. Cheng reportedly told Rothstein to inform some of the firm's clients who had lost money on other investments of the transaction.

Rothstein reportedly acted on the information in his own personal capacity as well, buying 700 shares of Amaya at $11.85 per share. After news of the Amaya/Pokerstars deal was announced, Rothstein allegedly pocketed over $5,500 in profits.

In addition to this, Rothstein reportedly informed Frank Soave, Vice President and Investment advisor at Wood Gundy, of the transaction as well. Soave was allegedly more aggressive with the information, as he reportedly purchased 5,000 shares of Amaya and quickly flipped them for a $98,921 profit.

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The OSC also named Aston Hill's CEO and Chairman of the Board at the time, Eric Tremblay, in the complaint.

According to the OSC, Cheng, Soave and Tremblay all gave misleading or false statements in order to try and cover their tracks.

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Former Amaya CEO David Baazov, along with a couple of associates, is set to stand trial for insider trading later this year. Baazov has cut ties with Amaya and has been aggressively selling his stake in the company over the past few months.

Source: BNN.com - OSC Alleges Insider Trading and Tipping in Amaya Shares

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