Saudi CMA says lawsuit filed against Mobily suspects

Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA), the kingdom’s market regulator, said the public prosecution has completed investigations into suspected violations and insider trading at Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) and a lawsuit was filed on Thursday against the individuals involved.

In 2015, the CMA referred the suspects involved in violations and insider trading at Mobily to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.

Without naming the suspects or disclosing how many were involved, The CMA said that they were suspected of violating Article (49) of the Capital Market Law during their term at the executive management, and “creating a false or misleading impression as to the value of the company’s security.”

In November, 2014, Mobily came under investigation by the CMA after the company restated its earnings for an 18-month period. The probe ended with the suspicion that the telco had violated one of its listing rules and two articles of capital market law. 

Earlier this year, the Committee for the Resolution of Securities Disputes (CRSD) found a number of individuals guilty and decided to convict them.

The CRSD then ordered two of the violators to pay a SAR 30.49 million and SAR 284.5 million as compensation for losses incurred on illegal trading in their investment portfolios.

In addition, fines between SAR 100,000 and SAR 200,000 were imposed on each violator.