French Regulator Fines Moroccan Firm $18 Million for MBWS Insider Trading

The total amount of the fines imposed is 18 million euros. On Thursday, the Sanctions Commission fined Diana Holding 10 million euros to be paid to the public treasury and its president, Rita Maria Zniber, 6 million euros for having bought shares of the French company on the basis of privileged information they held. They had committed these insider trading offenses while the group had just been placed under judicial reorganization. Other sanctions were also imposed: Serge Heringer (2 million euros), the company DF Holding (100,000 euros) and the company COFEPP (100,000 euros).

In its decision, the AMF Sanctions Commission states that it has sanctioned "two natural persons and three legal persons for insider trading as well as breaches of declarative obligations and trading prohibitions". The Commission "imposed monetary penalties totaling more than 18 million euros, on French and foreign actors in the wine and spirits sector," the decision further states, noting that the breach found against Diana Holding took place from March 16 to April 1, 2015, for the insider trading offense and, from September 16, 2014, for the breach of the obligation to declare the transactions carried out on the MBWS share.

According to the stock market regulator, these breaches "are of particular gravity". "It emerges from the case file, which is not disputed, that Diana Holding made a saving of 4,966,500 euros thanks to the share acquisitions made in breach of its obligation to abstain and, a saving of 9,300 euros thanks to the acquisitions of BSA Actionnaires 2," it is stated. "Furthermore, the subsequent disposals of these securities by Diana Holding allowed it to realize capital gains of 3,421,975 euros and 8,400 euros respectively," the stock market regulator added.

The AMF also indicates that this decision may be appealed.