CIBC, TELUS and VeriSign Form National Digital Provider

Soltrus Inc., a newly created national provider of digital trust services, announced its official launch on December 6, 2001 as an independent Canadian company. The value of the deal is undisclosed.

Drawing on the expertise of business partners CIBC, TELUS and VeriSign, Inc., Soltrus will offer tailored outsourced solutions designed to safeguard communications and transactions using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology. As VeriSign’s Canadian affiliate, Soltrus will provide digital trust services including authentication, validation, encryption, non-repudiation, payment services and wireless services.

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP acted as counsel for CIBC and Soltrus, with a team consisting of Cameron Rusaw, Erinn Somerville, Mindy Gilbert and Kerry O’Reilly (corporate and securities), Duncan Card, Mark Hayes and Heather Platt (information technology) and Geoffrey Turner and Duncan Osborne (tax) in Toronto and Hillel Rosen and Marie-Christine Lemerise (corporate) and Claude Jodoin (tax) in Montreal.

Regulatory, employment and other matters were handled for CIBC by in-house counsel Linda Smith, Elizabeth Fanjoy and Dianne Clark. TELUS was represented by in-house counsel Brad Cowburn and Raymond Lacroix. VeriSign was represented by in-house counsel Paul Hudson, James Ulam and Jennifer Rothstein.