Arab News, Thursday, Dec 31, 2020 | Jamadi Al Awwal 16, 1442
Saudi market authority refers 10 suspects to Public Prosecution for manipulative, misleading practices
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA)
referred 10 investors to the Public Prosecution for violating Article (49) of
the Capital Market Law and Article (8) of the Market Conduct Regulations, the
market regulator said in a statement.
The suspects carried out practices that involved manipulation and fraud in
market trades, by entering purchase or sale orders for the purpose of
influencing the price of the security, and trading (by purchasing) in the shares
of a number of listed companies.
Following this, they promoted opinions via the social media platform, Twitter,
for the purpose of influencing the price of the security, then trading (by
selling) the shares of the listed companies affected by the promoted opinions.
The suspicious cases included affecting the shares prices of 46 companies listed
on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), during the period from Feb.17, 2020,
until Sept. 21, 2020.
The authority 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 the advanced technology means it
possesses that enable it to supervise all dealings and monitor suspicious cases
and take the necessary legal procedures, in accordance with the laws and
regulations, in order to achieve the CMA’s objectives toward enhancing the
market efficiency and protecting the participant in it from illegal practices,
beside ensuring they are not subject to cheating or manipulation.
The CMA noted that the General Secretariat of Committees for Resolution of
Securities Disputes announced to the public the identities of 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 to the
Committee for the Resolution of Securities Disputes as per Article 57 of the
Capital Market Law, provided that such claim is preceded by a complaint filed to
the CMA.