Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA) has announced that 17 persons have been convicted of violating the Capital Market Law and have been ordered to pay the total illegal gains of SAR1.196 billion ($318.83 million).

 

They have been also imposed fines exceeding SAR 6 million, said a CMA statement.

 

It said: "Capital Market Authority (CMA) has announced the issuance of the Committees for Resolution of Securities Disputes' final decision convicting 17 persons of violating Article 49/a of the Capital Market Law, and Article 2/a of the Market Conduct Regulations. The decision obliged violators and 5 investors to pay the total illegal gains that amounted to SAR1.196 billion, as well as imposing fines upon the convicted violators that exceeded SAR6 million."

 

The CMA said the final decision of the Appeal Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes' (ACRSD) came as a result of joint coordination and cooperation between the authority, the public prosecution, and the law enforcement authorities.

 

"The decision came in light of the public penal lawsuit filed by the public prosecution, which was referred to it by the CMA, against a number of violators of the Capital Market Law and its implementing regulations, when 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 between 18/02/2018 and 31/05/2018, as their trading form acts and practices considered manipulation and fraud, hence created a false and misleading impression regarding the security of the said company," the CMA said. 

 

"Their 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 share, and entering purchase orders and sale orders aiming to affect the closing share price," it added.

 

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 SAR796 million, against the illegal gains achieved in their portfolios and fined them SAR6 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 SAR399 million against the illegal gains achieved in their portfolios.

 

In addition to the fines imposed, the decision also imposed other sanctions on the violators, including banning them from trading, directly or indirectly, and banning them from managing portfolios for periods ranging from six months to one year. - TradeArabia News Service