Saudi Arabia's bourse watchdog has fined two traders from the kingdom's largest brokerage and two investors a total 410,000 riyals ($109,333) for violating trading regulations, it said on Saturday.
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) also ordered two investors - Osama bin Mohammad al-Noaim and Badr bin Abdul-Aziz al-Noaim - to pay back 11.8 million riyals they made from trading in Al Ahsa Development Co and Fitaihi & Co shares over the May 15-20 period.
CMA said in a statement that it fined each of them 150,000 riyals and banned them from trading in firms listed on the Saudi bourse for violating regulations, citing an article that bans practices ranging from market manipulation to fraud. CMA also annulled the share trading licence of Al-Jazira Bank's stockbroker Tareq bin Saleh al-Mamdouh and fined him 100,000 riyals.
The second trader also from Al-Jazira, Fahd bin Daraan al-Hamed, was suspended from trading for two years and fined 10,000 riyals. CMA spokesman Abdulaziz Alzoom could not be reached for comments to clarify the nature of charges against al-Hamed. Al-Jazira controls about a quarter of the Saudi market for brokerage fees which account for more than half its income. Al-Jazira's CEO Mishari al-Mishari could not be reached for comment.
Fitaihi's shares rose less than two percent over the May 15-20 period but more than 352.3 million of its shares were traded, representing nine times the total number of its issued shares. During the same period, Ahsa's shares rose less than one percent but more than 347.3 million shares were traded, or more than eight times the total number of its issued shares.
In December CMA fined another investor 2.4 million riyals and ordered him to pay back 88.6 million riyals he made from illegal trading but did not say how he broke the rules. The case was the third of market manipulation reported in 2006 on the largest Arab stock exchange, which is trying to shed a reputation abroad for being opaque and poorly regulated.
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