Saudi: 17 Manipulators, 5 Investors Ordered To Pay Back SR1.196 Billion for Illegal Trading
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced Thursday the final decision of the Committees for Resolution of Securities Disputes convicting 17 people of violating the Capital Market Law, and the Market Conduct Regulations.
The decision obliged the violators including five investors to pay a total of SR1.196 billion in illegal gains. It also imposed on them a fine exceeding SR6 million.
The CMA indicated that the final decision of the Appeal Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes (ACRSD) came as a result of coordination and cooperation between the authority, the Public Prosecution, and law-enforcement authorities.
The decision was in a penal lawsuit filed by the Public Prosecution, after the case was referred to it by the CMA, against a number of violators of the Capital Market Law.
The convicted persons traded in the shares of Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Company during the period between 27/04/2017 and 23/01/2018, as well as the period between 18/02/2018 and 31/05/2018. Their trading activities and practices were deemed to be manipulation and fraud that created a false and misleading impression regarding the security of the company. The violations are represented in their acts, through their portfolios, or the portfolios they manage, of entering purchase orders and sale orders aiming to affect the price of the shares.
The CMA clarified that the decision of the ACRSD obligated the 17 convicted violators to pay to the CMA’s account a total amount exceeding SR796 million, accounting for the illegal gains achieved in their portfolios. It fined them SR6 million for committing violations through their portfolios and for exploiting their management of portfolios belonging to five other investors to commit the same violations.
The decision also included obliging the five investors to pay a total amount exceeding SR399 million for the illegal gains earned in their portfolios.
In addition to the fines, the decision also included imposing other sanctions upon the convicted violators, such as banning them from trading, directly or indirectly, and banning them from managing portfolios for periods ranging from six months to one year.
