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SEC imposes fine of €100k to Laser

22/06/2010 15:04
The Board of Directors of Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission decided to impose an administrative fine of €100,000 to Laser Investment Group Plc for violating article 19 as specialized by article 20(1)(c) of the Law, which provides for the Actions of Persons who Hold Confidential Information and the Market Manipulations Actions-N.116(I)/2005 as amended since with the announcement dated 19.10.2007 it presented that it acquired King Franchise Ltd against €2,774,174, while its real value was only £400,000 (€683,344).

In order to determine the administrative fine, the Commission took into account the seriousness that the legislator gives in this type of breaches, which is reflected by the maximum administrative fine provided for violations of article 19 as specialized by article 20 (1)(c) in article 23 of the Law, that is, €854,300.72, while in case that this violation is repeated, a sum that does not exceed €1,708,601.40).

It also took into consideration that the manipulation actions hit the integrity of the financial means market since they impede its proper operation and creation of full transparency conditions.

The Commission took into account the importance that the Commission gives in securing that the market is not manipulated in any way, which contributes to the strengthening of the investors’ confidence in it and the fact that the Company acted on a basis of a plan, which involved a number of persons.

Finally, it took into account the big difference in the price announced to the investing public (€2,774,174) from the real sale price of the shares at €683,344.