Amaya (symbol AYA) continues to be a leader in online gambling while global online gambling is still in its infancy. You’d think this would be good new for the AYA share price, but in fact, AYA shares are down for the year. The main reason is the mountain of bad press relating to insider trading allegations by former CEO David Baazov. Rumours of a takeover offer from Baazov have not materialized, but lately the shares have found their footing and seem to tracking more in line with their expected value. Baazov has now cut business ties with Amaya but remains its largest shareholder while he clears his name.
I find it incredible that the public puts up with overly aggressive securities regulators in Canada. The allegations made by the L’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) which is Quebec’s securities regulator seem circumstantial at best and more like a witch hunt at worst. The AMF alleges that Baazov used insider information to tip off friends and family that enabled them to profit $1.5 million over the course of a few years. It seems insane to me that Baazov, who owns more than $1 billion worth of Amaya stock, would go out of his way to break the law so that some of his friends and family could earn $1.5 million. To put this in perspective, if Amaya shares change value by 1% each day, this makes Baazov more than $10 million richer or poorer EACH DAY. The AMF obviously has a bit of trouble with basic math.
I hope Baazov continues fighting the allegations that the AMF has made against him. I hope more people start standing up to aggressive securities regulators.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/no-direct-proof-in-case-against-former-amaya-ceo-david-baazov/article31882783/
