The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has issued a warning about online solicitations by an unregistered man seeking to act as a securities dealer and promising extremely high returns.
The Quebec securities regulator is cautioning consumers about solicitations on the internet by Martin Boyer seeking clients to make investments in the stock market, and promising returns of up to 1,000%.
“Even though Martin Boyer is not registered with the AMF and acknowledges that he does not have any training in securities trading, he invites investors through Internet ads to entrust him with the management of brokerage accounts via trading authorizations,” the AMF says.
The regulator says that Boyer asks for a minimum investment of $15,000 and promises hefty returns. Investors are also offered shares in a company without a prospectus, it adds.
The AMF says that it has asked the Bureau de décision et de révision to issue orders barring Boyer from acting as a securities and derivatives adviser, prohibiting him from carrying out any trading activity, and requiring him to remove these sorts of ads from the internet.
The AMF has also asked the Bureau to order him to pay penalties totalling $4,000 for illegal practice as a securities and derivatives adviser and for illegal practice as a securities dealer.