Verify a decision

{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"6a62c335-2e7c-426d-a85e-cc5e0a2884d4","kind":"publish","page_slug":"timechain","published_at":"2026-10-15T20:05:52.253Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Timechain","sections":[{"content":"On an ex parte application from Quebec's Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers issued orders against Technologies Timechain Inc., its CEO Louis Cléroux, and associates Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher. The orders barred the respondents from acting as securities dealers or advisers, including promoting or soliciting investment in the cryptocurrency trading fund Timechain operated, and froze assets the respondents held or controlled. Financial institutions Banque Scotia and Caisse Desjardins, and cryptocurrency platforms and service providers including Binance, FTX Exchange, Fireblocks, Apaylo Finance Technology Inc. and VirgoCx Inc., were ordered not to dispose of funds or cryptoassets held for Timechain or the named individuals. The tribunal found the matter called for urgent intervention in the public interest, permitting the order to be issued without a prior hearing. The AMF published reasons for its decision (file 2022-015-001) the following month.","heading":"Quebec regulator asset freeze and cease-trade orders","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Orders against Timechain Technologies Inc., Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher (AMF)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/orders-against-timechain-technologies-inc-louis-cleroux-jeremie-picard-and-mathieu-cocher"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Quebec government notice on orders against Technologies Timechain Inc. and others","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/ordonnances-a-lencontre-de-technologies-timechain-inc-louis-cleroux-jeremie-picard-et-mathieu-cocher-40927"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers, decision 2022-015-001 (reasons)","type":"court_filing","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/fileadmin/lautorite/Communiques/decision_2022-015-001_motifs.pdf"}]},{"content":"According to the AMF's investigation as summarized in the Quebec government's public notice, Timechain, Cléroux and Picard allegedly carried out placements of securities without a prospectus approved by the Autorité and acted as securities dealers without being registered with the regulator. The notice states that at least 12 investors were reportedly involved, having invested sums totalling nearly six million dollars, and that almost all of that money had reportedly already been withdrawn from the bank and cryptocurrency accounts identified as belonging to Timechain by the time the orders were sought. These figures and characterizations come from the regulator's allegations and have not been confirmed as findings on the merits by the tribunal.","heading":"Allegations of unregistered securities dealing and investor fund withdrawals","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Orders against Timechain Technologies Inc., Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher (AMF)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/orders-against-timechain-technologies-inc-louis-cleroux-jeremie-picard-and-mathieu-cocher"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Quebec government notice on orders against Technologies Timechain Inc. and others","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/ordonnances-a-lencontre-de-technologies-timechain-inc-louis-cleroux-jeremie-picard-et-mathieu-cocher-40927"}]},{"content":"Before the 2022 enforcement action, Timechain publicly presented itself as a Canadian, regulated financial app and multi-chain DEX aggregator offering DeFi and digital-asset management services, with CEO Louis Cléroux quoted in crypto trade press. In March 2022, Timechain announced a partnership with digital-asset custody provider Fireblocks, framed as a way to expand institutional exposure and offer customers what Cléroux described as an ultra-secure product. News coverage of the partnership described Timechain as a registered Money Services Business but did not independently verify this status or detail the company's assets under management. Roughly two months after the partnership was announced, the AMF obtained the freeze and cease-trade orders described above, indicating that whatever regulatory registration Timechain held did not extend to the securities and dealer registrations the AMF said were required for its fund activities.","heading":"Business profile and institutional partnerships prior to enforcement action","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Canadian crypto firm Timechain joins Fireblocks' network (FinanceFeeds)","type":"news_article","url":"https://financefeeds.com/canadian-crypto-firm-timechain-joins-fireblocks-network/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Timechain joins Fireblocks to increase exposure (Invezz)","type":"news_article","url":"https://invezz.com/news/2022/03/15/timechain-joins-fireblocks-to-increase-exposure/"}]},{"content":"Public AMF hearing-roll records show the Timechain matter (file 2022-015) remained active well after the initial 2022 orders, with a hearing in April 2023 on a request to partially lift the freezing orders and a further hearing in November 2023 on a request to extend them. No subsequent tribunal ruling on the merits of the AMF's allegations, nor any criminal charges against Cléroux, Picard or Cocher, were found in available public records. This leaves the case's ultimate resolution — including whether frozen assets were returned to investors or any penalties were ultimately imposed — unconfirmed as of the most recent sources located.","heading":"Status of proceedings: unresolved as of latest available records","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 19, no. 34 (2022)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/fileadmin/lautorite/bulletin/2022/vol19no34/vol19no34.pdf"},{"credibility":1,"name":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 16 (2023)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/files/pdf/bulletin/2023/vol20no16/vol20no16_2.pdf"},{"credibility":1,"name":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 44 (2023)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/files/pdf/bulletin/2023/vol20no44/vol20no44_2.pdf"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Orders against Timechain Technologies Inc., Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher (AMF)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/orders-against-timechain-technologies-inc-louis-cleroux-jeremie-picard-and-mathieu-cocher"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Quebec government notice on orders against Technologies Timechain Inc. and others","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/ordonnances-a-lencontre-de-technologies-timechain-inc-louis-cleroux-jeremie-picard-et-mathieu-cocher-40927"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers, decision 2022-015-001 (reasons)","type":"court_filing","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/fileadmin/lautorite/Communiques/decision_2022-015-001_motifs.pdf"},{"credibility":1,"name":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 19, no. 34 (2022)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/fileadmin/lautorite/bulletin/2022/vol19no34/vol19no34.pdf"},{"credibility":1,"name":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 19, no. 35 (2022)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/fileadmin/lautorite/bulletin/2022/vol19no35/vol19no35.pdf"},{"credibility":1,"name":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 16 (2023)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/files/pdf/bulletin/2023/vol20no16/vol20no16_2.pdf"},{"credibility":1,"name":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 44 (2023)","type":"regulatory","url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/files/pdf/bulletin/2023/vol20no44/vol20no44_2.pdf"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Canadian crypto firm Timechain joins Fireblocks' network (FinanceFeeds)","type":"news_article","url":"https://financefeeds.com/canadian-crypto-firm-timechain-joins-fireblocks-network/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Timechain joins Fireblocks to increase exposure (Invezz)","type":"news_article","url":"https://invezz.com/news/2022/03/15/timechain-joins-fireblocks-to-increase-exposure/"}],"summary":"Timechain (legally Technologies Timechain Inc.) was a Quebec-based crypto firm that described itself as a regulated DeFi/DEX-aggregator platform and operated a cryptocurrency trading fund under CEO Louis Cléroux. In May 2022, Quebec's securities regulator obtained emergency tribunal orders freezing the company's and its principals' assets and barring them from securities activity, alleging unregistered dealing and distribution of securities without a prospectus; as of the most recent public records found, the case remained in administrative proceedings with no final ruling on the merits.","timeline":[{"date":"2022-03","event":"Timechain announces a partnership with digital-asset custody provider Fireblocks, describing itself as a regulated financial app and DEX aggregator seeking to expand institutional exposure.","source":"FinanceFeeds / Invezz","source_url":"https://financefeeds.com/canadian-crypto-firm-timechain-joins-fireblocks-network/"},{"date":"2022-05","event":"The Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers, on an ex parte application from the AMF, issues orders freezing assets of Technologies Timechain Inc., Louis Cléroux, Jérémie Picard and Mathieu Cocher and barring them from securities dealing or promoting Timechain's crypto-trading fund.","source":"AMF / Quebec government notice","source_url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/en/general-public/media-centre/news/fiche-dactualites/orders-against-timechain-technologies-inc-louis-cleroux-jeremie-picard-and-mathieu-cocher"},{"date":"2022-07","event":"Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers publishes its reasons for decision (file 2022-015-001) underlying the May 2022 orders.","source":"Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers","source_url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/fileadmin/lautorite/Communiques/decision_2022-015-001_motifs.pdf"},{"date":"2023-04","event":"AMF hearing roll lists a hearing on a request to partially lift the freezing orders against the Timechain respondents.","source":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 16","source_url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/files/pdf/bulletin/2023/vol20no16/vol20no16_2.pdf"},{"date":"2023-11","event":"AMF hearing roll lists a hearing on a request to extend the freezing orders against the Timechain respondents.","source":"AMF Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 44","source_url":"https://lautorite.qc.ca/files/pdf/bulletin/2023/vol20no44/vol20no44_2.pdf"}]},"v":1}