Associate

Valérie Dufour is a member of the Business Law group. Her practice is primarily focused on securities law.

Ms. Dufour advises financial sector participants on securities regulations and corporate governance matters, and also assists companies, brokers, underwriters and investors in a variety of corporate finance transactions, including public and private security offerings. 

Before joining Lavery, Ms. Dufour was a senior securities analyst with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), where she served as a key advisor, both internally and externally, on complex issues relating to prospectus financing, takeover bids and issuer bids, reorganizations, and discretionary exemptions from a requirement in securities legislation.

During her tenure at the AMF, Ms. Dufour also sat on various committees of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) responsible for the application and modernization of securities regulation, including the Committee on takeover bids and issuer bids and the Committee on reducing the regulatory burden for reporting issuers.

From 2006 to 2011, Ms. Dufour held the position of investigator at the AMF and conducted investigations relating to violations of securities legislation, including insider trading and market manipulation.

Education

• LL.M., Université de Montréal, 2011
  - Master?s thesis under the supervision of Prof. Stéphane Rousseau (?L?affaire BCE inc. et les devoirs des administrateurs lors d?une prise de contrôle?)
• Member of the Barreau du Québec since 2006
• LL.B., Université de Montréal, 2005

Additional Training

• Financial Accounting Program, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2010
• Canadian Securities Course (CSC), Canadian Securities Institute, 2008