AMF Enforcement Committee fines one individual and clears two others for insider dealing breaches

One of the individuals was accused of having disclosed to two others, including Mr Miserez, information relating to the launch of a takeover bid for an issuer, and these two individuals were accused of improper use of this information to acquire this issuer's securities.

The Committee first ruled that the information in question was an inside information at the latest on 8 June 2020 and had remained so until 22 June 2020, the date of the press release published by the issuer to announce the launch of a takeover bid for its shares.

For each of the respondents, the Committee then examined all the indicators relating to the existence of plausible transmission channels, the atypical nature of the disputed operations and the methods used to place the orders, at the opportune time, as well as the absence of convincing explanations justifying the operations in question.

After noting that the individual accused of having disclosed the inside information in question was indeed in possession of this information, the Committee found that the alleged regulatory breaches of the obligation to refrain from disclosing inside information had not been established.

The Committee also cleared one of the individuals accused of a regulatory breach of the obligation to refrain from using inside information on the grounds that the indicators adduced, relating to the existence of a likely information transmission system and the timely nature of the disputed acquisitions, were insufficient to demonstrate that these operations could solely be explained by the possession of the inside information in question.

In the case of Mr Miserez, on the other hand, the Committee took the view that the atypical, hasty and timely nature of the disputed acquisition, for which he had adduced no convincing justification, meant that it could only be explained by the possession of inside information. It also noted that it could not be ruled out that Mr Miserez might have obtained the inside information through means other than the individual accused of disclosing it.

An appeal may be lodged against this decision.

About the Enforcement Committee
The Enforcement Committee, which is made up of judges and professionals, has total freedom to make decisions. It can impose sanctions on any person or company whose practices contravene laws and regulations that fall within the jurisdiction of the AMF. It ratifies settlement agreements signed by the Secretary General and respondents. And it takes part in the AMF’s educational efforts by clarifying financial regulations when explaining its decisions.