David Baazov faces insider trading charges
Amaya has confirmed they believe these charges are without merit and Mr Baazov has the full support of the board.
The Quebec security regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has filed 23 charges in an insider trading investigation into the 2014 Amaya acquisition of the PokerStars parent Oldford Group Ltd.
Amaya CEO David Baazov is facing five charges of "aiding trades while in possession of privileged information, influencing or attempting to influence the market price of the securities of Amaya inc., and communicating privileged information."
In a statement to the press, Amaya confirmed that Mr Baazov denies these allegations and that Amaya believes they are without merit. They also confirmed this should have no impact on the day-to-day operating of the business.
“David Baazov has the full support of the independent members of the board,” said Dave Gadhia, Amaya's Lead Director and independent board member, and the former Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Inc. “As noted previously, Amaya conducted an external internal review, supervised by its independent board members with the assistance of external legal counsel from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Canada and Greenberg Traurig LLP in the U.S., which thoroughly reviewed the relevant internal activities surrounding the Oldford Group acquisition. This review found no evidence of any violations of Canadian securities laws or regulations.”
Trading in Amaya's Canadian shares were halted this morning.
