CMA orders violators to pay fines after losing appeal

Saudi Arabia’s Appeals Committee for the Resolutions of Securities Disputes on Aug. 20, upheld a verdict against Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Othman and some investors for trading violations and ordered them to pay millions of riyals in fines, the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the regulator, said in a statement on its website.

Al Othman will pay SAR 345,000, as well as SAR 4.6 million to the CMA for the “illegal gains in his investment portfolio.”

A number of investors who made gains based on Al Othman’s input were also ordered to pay SAR 4.3 million to the CMA.

Al Othman was convicted of fraud and market manipulation for several violations committed sometime between 2012 and 2013 which involved the shares of ACE Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co., Al Alamiya Cooperative Insurance Co. and Saudi Indian Company for Cooperative Insurance.

“These practices formed manipulation and fraud and created a misleading and incorrect impression about the mentioned companies,” CMA said in the statement.