RIYADH — The board of Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) has referred 11 traders to the Public Prosecution over suspicious trading in shares of Al-Kathiri Holding Company and Anaam International Holding Group. The traders were suspected of violating Article (49) of the Capital Market Law and Article (2) of the Market Conduct Regulations, the regulatory authority said in a statement. The suspicious cases included committing a number of violations such as making entry of purchase orders with the aim of affecting the share price, and entering purchase orders in the closing auction with the aim of achieving a high closing price for the two companies during the period from Dec. 5, 2019, to Nov. 15, 2020. In this regard, the authority emphasized that it will not hesitate to prosecute the manipulators in the financial market by monitoring their dealings by exercising its powers in accordance with the Capital Market Law and its advanced technology means that enable it to monitor all transactions and suspicious cases and to quickly take the necessary legal measures in accordance with the laws and regulations. This is part of achieving the authority's goals to enhance the efficiency of the capital market and protect its dealers from unlawful practices and to ensure that they are not exposed to deception or manipulation On its part, the general secretariat of the committees for resolution of securities disputes announces on its website the identity of violators of capital market regulations when final decisions are issued by the committees for adjudicating securities disputes in criminal cases. The authority said in the statement that those who are affected by these violations have the right to file lawsuits against the violators to demand compensation before the committee under Article 57 of the Capital Market Law, provided that a complaint is submitted to the authority before filing a lawsuit." The authority said that its decision comes as part of its responsibility in protecting the market from unfair and improper practices, and working to achieve fairness and transparency in securities transactions in line with article 17 of the Capital Market Law.
