Saudi regulator fines six for bourse violations

TRADING VIOLATIONS: Six investors have been slapped with fines totaling $74.16m after being found guilty of violating trading regulations. (Getty Images)

The Saudi bourse regulator has ordered six investors to pay a total $74.16 million for trading violations, it said in a statement on Saturday.

Like others in the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia's stock exchange has been dogged by allegations of being opaque and subject to manipulation of stock prices, and the regulator has slapped hefty fines on investors and executives found guilty of violations.

An appeals panel of the Capital Market Authority issued a final ruling in the case of the six men found guilty of violating trading regulations in transactions with shares in Tihama Advertising and Public Relations Co in 2006, the CMA said in the statement on the bourse website.

One of the investors was fined $53,330 and ordered to pay back $38 million which CMA said were gains he made in these transactions.

The appeal panel also banned four of the six investors from trading in shares of listed firms or working for such companies for three years.

An official at Tihama, Ibrahim Esmail, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Saudi bourse is gradually opening up to direct foreign ownership amid tough competition from regional bourses.

Over the past two years, CMA has stepped up efforts to clamp down on irregularities, imposing hefty fines and one jail sentence and revoking the licences of several brokerage firms for violating market laws and regulations. (Reuters)

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM