The Marktenhof, part of the Brussels Court of Appeal, has condemned the way in which the Sanctions Committee of stock market watchdog FSMA imposes fines in a judgment. That is what De Tijd writes. “It is completely obscure for everyone, and therefore also for the Marktenhof, which steps are taken to determine the amount of a fine,” it sounds.
In the judgment of March 23, the judge annulled a fine of 100,000 euros that the Sanctions Committee imposed in 2020 on the Dutchman Peter Paul de Vries and his vehicle Value8. De Vries was fined for market manipulation in the Sucraf share, an empty stock market shell of which Value8 is the major shareholder.
The fine followed de Vries’ refusal to accept a settlement proposal of more than 100,000 euros. Dominique Leroy (ex-CEO of Proximus) did agree to a similar amount for insider trading in 2020.
De Vries was particularly surprised by the size of the fine. He not only denies the market manipulation, he also claims not to have taken any advantage of some of the sell orders targeted by the FSMA.
According to the judge, the market manipulation has not been proven and the fine is illegal in any case, as long as there is no transparency about the link between the infringement and the size of the fine.
The FSMA has announced that it will appeal in cassation. “We followed the law,” it sounds.