Reflecting Canada’s currently fragmented and decentralized system of securities regulation, an insider trading complaint filed by the Newfoundland and Labrador government against investor George Armoyan has been dropped. The Globe and Mail reports that “the provincial government filed the complaint in May, 2007, after Mr. Armoyan made nearly $6-million from selling shares in [FPI], the now-defunct seafood company.” Armoyan was a board member of FPI until last month.
Armoyan reportedly engaged in a massive sell-off of stocks just as the company was negotiating a sale of its assets. The Newfoundland government says after a probe that lasted several months, the commission dropped the complaint last year. “They could find no evidence of insider trading,” Vanessa Colman-Sadd, a spokeswoman for Newfoundland’s Government Services Department, said. “In their opinion this matter is now closed. As we rely on them for these types of investigations, we also consider this matter closed.”
