Baazov Of Amaya Faces Insider Trading Charges

David Baazov, president and CEO of Amaya Gaming Group and the man who has taken the company to where it is today, is facing trouble. The Quebec securities regulator, AMF, has levelled 23 charges against Baazov and his business associates including that of using privileged information pertaining to the securities of Amaya for trading purposes and attempting to influence the market price of Amaya. AMF President Louis Morisset said that illegal insider trading and market manipulation profoundly and adversely affect public confidence and the integrity of the stock markets and the AMF would not allow it. AMF stated that the transgressions took place between December 2013 and June 2014 when Amaya was in the process of acquiring PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

Baazov himself has denied the allegations. Amaya, as a company, stands behind Baazov. A company release stated that the charges are without merit and it expects Baazov will be fully exonerated. Dave Gadhia, Amaya's lead director and independent board member, also confirmed that Baazov has the full support of the independent members of the board. He added that Amaya had conducted independent external and internal reviews and no evidence of any violations of Canadian securities laws or regulations was found. At the moment the company is not contemplating any action and will wait for AMF to make the next move. The Amaya statement also clarified that the charges would not have any adverse impact on the day-to-day affairs of the operating business. Despite the denial, Amaya stock fell more than 21% after the AMF announcement.

The move to privatize Amaya Gaming along with its high profile brands has seemingly been put on hold. It is not known whether this has resulted from the expectation of the AMF charges or there are other issues involved. On February 1, Amaya had announced that they expected to receive a non-binding all-cash buyout offer from an investor group led by Baazov. However, almost two months have passed and there is no offer in the public domain. It is known that the independent directors have been looking at alternatives since Baazov let his intentions be known. Moelis & Company LLC, an international investment bank, has been appointed to provide an independent valuation of the online gambling company's securities so as to evaluate Baazov’s offer as and when it is made. The directors have also restricted Baazov’s access to confidential and sensitive company information and established guidelines to control his decision making.

Online Casino Articles

A listing of the newest online casino & gambling related articles that have been added to Canadian Casino Sites can be found featured in the listing below.