Watch Dogs 2 might be doing great but its developer, Ubisoft, is in hot water as five of its top executives have been accused by the French stock market regulators of selling stocks based on insider information. One of those accused was Ubisoft's Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat.
The French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) accused the top executives of Ubisoft for selling stocks based on inside information. They said that the executives, along with Mallat, sold their stocks a day before the official public announcement that Watch Dogs 2 and The Crew will be delayed.
Mallat and the other accused executives disputed this accusation already and said that they are aware of the action taken by the organization against them. The said officials strongly dispute their involvement in the said scandal. They have reason to be confident because Ubisoft CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot backs them up saying he has good faith on the officials and reassured them of his trust and support.
The situation in question was about the temporary drop of Ubisoft's stocks back in 2013 after the announcement that The Crew and Watch Dogs 2 are suffering some delays. During that time, the AMF became suspicious because before the stock drop, the executives sold their stocks preventing them from losing. The French stock regulator also said that it was possible that the executives sold some securities while possessing inside information.
The proceedings will take place at the Commission des Sanctions until November. It is also interesting to note that although the five executives were accused, Ubisoft itself was not included.
For their part, three of the accused executives filed a motion with the Superior Court of Quebec and requested that the proceedings be rendered invalid and void. They are also demanding AMF France and AMF Quebec to pay them for the damages they caused.
