CMA refers some investors to Public Prosecution

Logo of Capital Market Authority (CMA)

The Capital Market Authority (CMA) decided to refer some investors to the Public Prosecution on suspicion of violating Article 49 of the Capital Market Law and Article 2 of the Market Conduct Regulations.

In a statement, the CMA said the violations include entering purchase and sale orders aiming to affect the share price and entering purchase and sale orders aiming to affect the closing price, after trading shares of 52 companies listed in the Saudi stock market.

The referral to the Public Prosecution came further to the announcement published on Aug. 11, 2022, which resulted in the outcome of the monitoring, tracking, analyzing, and studying the trades on the shares of listed companies.

Such companies saw fluctuations in their prices and traded volumes during various periods in 2020 and 2021. This resulted in the detection of suspicions related to the trades of a group of investors during the mentioned period through their investment portfolios. Accordingly, it became clear through their trading that they aimed to influence the shares of listed companies.

The CMA confirmed that illegal practices involving fraud, deception, and manipulation are violations that expose the perpetrators to legal accountability and the penalties set forth in the Capital Market Law In this regard.

Further, the CMA stressed that it will not hesitate, in pursuit of prosecuting manipulators in the capital market, to supervise their dealings, based on its powers under the Capital Market Law, and through cooperating with the relevant security authorities.

The General Secretariat of the Committee for Resolution of Securities Disputes (CRSD) will announce to the public the identities of convicted violators on its website upon the issuance of final decisions regarding criminal cases.

Moreover, any person affected by these violations is entitled to file a compensation claim, after conviction, against the violators before CRSD, provided that such claim is preceded by a complaint filed with the CMA in this regard.

(To view the dates of trading and the securities in relation to the violation, click here)