(BFM Bourse) – The college of the stock market policeman requested these fines against eight people and three companies. Several people were, according to him, aware of the operation and were able to realize significant capital gains.
The college of the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on Friday required more than 3.25 million euros in fines against eight people and three companies for insider trading in the context of the takeover of the listed real estate company Terreïs.
The AMF Sanctions Committee discussed the operation around the takeover of the real estate company Terreïs by Swiss Life, officially announced to the market on February 12, 2019. Terreïs then bought back its own shares to exit the stock market.
The project was first imagined in the form of the purchase of securities by Swiss Life, giving rise, according to the AMF, to initial privileged information at the end of 2018, before taking the form of the purchase of real estate assets, the second inside information in early 2019.
“Serious clues”
The market policeman reproaches several people, via “beams of precise and concordant serious indices”, of having been aware of the negotiations and of having taken advantage of them to make significant capital gains.
Via his company THD, Thierry Decré, wine merchant and president of LD Vin, realized a capital gain of 434,000 euros by having invested during the first privileged information.
According to the representative of the AMF college, he could have been made aware via these links with officials of the Ovalto company, in particular its president Jacky Lorenzetti, who controls Terreïs and who has invested in his company LD Vin.
She requested a million euros in fines against THD and 200,000 euros against Thierry Decré.
Decision in the next few weeks
The links with Jacky Lorenzetti, not called into question by the AMF, are also considered as being able to establish a “plausible circuit of transmission” of privileged information with his brother, Pascal Lorenzetti, and his company Option 7. value of 278,000 euros, the AMF demanded a fine of 650,000 euros against the company and 150,000 euros against Pascal Lorenzetti.
The use of privileged information is also blamed on a manager of Razier, a subcontractor of Terreïs, Jacques-Antoine Condat. The AMF college criticizes the latter for having recommended to his partner, Ghania Begriche, and his brother, Jean-Roger Condat to invest, the first time that such an accusation has been brought before the commission. Fines of 300,000 euros, 75,000 euros and 125,000 euros respectively were requested.
For similar facts, 550,000 euros were requested against Benjamin Parisielle, then administrative and financial director of the Rougnon group, which controls Razier, 40,000 euros against a senior manager of the Racing 92 rugby club, owned by Jacky Lorenzetti, Christophe Mombet, and 20,000 euros against the former asset manager of Terreïs Kilian Heim.
The defense of the respondents asked not to take into account certain elements obtained by the investigators via fadettes, telephone records, which is illegal in this type of investigation according to it. It also disputes the existence of the first privileged information on the plan to buy back shares by Swiss Life, which ultimately did not succeed because of a price deemed too low.
The lawyers also tried to justify for each of their clients that the significant investments in Terreïs shares had another origin than a possible knowledge of the negotiations.
In addition, the representative of the AMF college requested “a dissuasive sanction”, of 200,000 euros against Terreïs for failure to keep the list of insiders. It is also the first time that this reason has been raised before the committee.
The Sanctions Committee is due to make its decision in the coming weeks.
(With AFP)
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