Clarification by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec regarding the Norbourg case

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec would like to provide the following clarification in response to comments made about the ruling by Mr. Justice Claude Leblond against Vincent Lacroix.

At no time did the investors defrauded by Vincent Lacroix deposit money with the Caisse, which has never managed funds belonging to such investors. The Caisse was the main shareholder of Capital Teraxis, which sold mutual funds under the Evolution name. Evolution Funds held the amounts provided by the investors and hired six external managers, with no direct connection to the Caisse, to manage the mutual funds.

The Caisse’s constituting statute, adopted in 1965, provides that it may accept deposits only from the province’s public bodies, such as pension plans or insurance funds. As at December 31, 2007, the Caisse had 25 depositors.

“The sentence imposed by Judge Leblond reflects the serious nature of the actions of Vincent Lacroix, who placed 9,200 investors in an extremely regrettable situation,” stated Henri-Paul Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Caisse.

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a financial institution that manages funds primarily for public and private pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2006, it held CA$143.5 billion of net assets. One of the leading institutional fund managers in Canada, the Caisse invests in the main financial markets as well as in private equity and real estate. For more information: www.cdpq.com.