26 interest-free loans at Otéra Capital

In May 2019, while a major cleanup on morality was in full swing internally, analysts in Otter responded to a chain of emails with the subject: “Important – conflict of interest”. They are working on a computer tool to list the conflicts of interest that were created a few months ago after a cascade of embarrassing revelations from our Ethics Investigation Bureau at Otéra.

“So under the circumstances there are now 26 loans [sic] Conflict […]The 21 on the list and the 5 below are new, “a senior business analyst wrote in an email on May 16.

Prior to the creation of this IT tool, Otéra did not have a dashboard to monitor conflicts of interest. The company relies on the statements of its employees.

The oldest of the loans added that day is from 2012 and belongs to the Shopping Center Place Alma in Lock-Saint-Jean.

Internal documents from Otéra indicate that Toronto real estate giant Timbercreek was linked to the loan file. However, Paul Chin’s wife, Julie Nealt, is currently working at TimberCreek, where she held management positions from 2012 to February 2022.

Otera argued yesterday that Mr Chin had announced all of his interests “in relation to Timbercreek” in 2013.

“[M. Chin] Has always dealt with the management of conflicts of interest in good faith, transparently and cooperatively. What’s wrong and what’s improved, among other things, is the framework for dealing with these conflicts, ”a Otera spokeswoman said in a written statement.

Mr. at the Terrebone Shopping Center. Yesterday we revealed that Otéra leaders had urgently warned their teams in February 2019 about Chin’s personal interests, to which Otéra had lent a total of $ 20.7 million. Mr. Chin had to sell his shares within three months.

Mr Chin is still in office because, according to Otera, there is “no general measure” of the situation, with factors leading to the dismissal of its leaders in 2019.

Neither Kaisse nor then-CEO Michael Sabia has publicly disclosed the findings of Otera’s first vice president in 2019. Although we have made repeated requests for an external investigation report to be commissioned in 2019, it has been kept secret ever since.