Some high level officials at Ubisoft have been accused of insider trading

With the release of the highly anticipated Watch Dogs 2 today, some less than pleasant news has come out about mega-developer and publisher, Ubisoft. As reported by Kotaku, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) have stepped forward and have accused Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat and four other high-level executives of participating in insider trading.

The report claims that Mallat and the others sold pieces of their company stock in the weeks before the company's announcement that the first Watch Dogs and The Crew would be delayed until Spring of 2014. Following the announcement, Ubisoft's stock dropped in value by 25%; the AMF is contending that Mallat and the others would have known about the impending announcement and took advantage of the market.

A few days ago, Mallat himself conducted an interview with La Presse, a Canadian newspaper based in Montreal, and claimed that he had no knowledge of the announcement. Ubisoft also denies the claims as well, citing that company co-founder Yves Guillemot "does not question the good faith of the people involved and has reassured them that they have his full support and trust."

We will keep tabs on this as it develops.

Source: [Kotaku]