Due to Suspicion of Influencing The Share Prices of (18) Companies Listed on The Capital Market, The Capital Market Authority Refers Accounts' Holders on The Social Media Platform “Twitter” to The Public Prosecution

The Capital Market Authority (CMA) would like to announce to all participants and investors in the Saudi stock Exchange that through the continuous observation and follow-up procedures carried out by the CMA, and after receiving a number of complaints and reports, have detected accounts with usernames  (@Nawafmsz)  and (@Mnawafms) on the social media Platform “Twitter" committing behaviors suspected of violating Article (49) of the Capital Market Law and Article (8) of the Market Conduct Regulations, by publishing tweets on "Twitter" platform  that involve circulating an opinion for the purpose of influencing the share prices of (18) companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange. beside the CMA's initiation of the procedures for control, inference and analysis of the tweets published by the holders of the two accounts referred to above; It was suspected that these tweets were intended to influence the share prices of some companies, therefore the CMA board resolution has been issued regarding the referral of the holders of the aforementioned accounts to the Public Prosecution to file a public case against them.

In this regard, the CMA stresses that it will not hesitate, in pursuit of prosecuting manipulators in the capital market, to supervise their dealings, based on its powers under the Capital Market Law, and the advanced technology means it possesses that enable it to supervise all dealings and monitor suspicious cases and take the necessary legal procedures in accordance with the laws and regulations, in order to achieve the CMA's objectives toward enhancing the market efficiency and protecting the participant in it from illegal practices, beside ensuring they are not subject to cheating or manipulation.

The CMA is committed to apply the Capital Market Law and its Implementing Regulations, and protect the market from illegal practices. It is worth noting that the General Secretariat of Committees for Resolution of Securities Disputes will announces to the public the identities of convicted violators on its website upon the issuance of final decisions by the Committees for Resolution of Securities Disputes regarding criminal cases. Moreover, any person affected by these violations is entitled to file a compensation claim, after conviction, against the violators before the Committee for the Resolution of Securities Disputes as per Article 57 of the Capital Market Law, provided that such claim is preceded by a complaint filed to the CMA (via this link) in this regard.

 (To view the dates of trading and the securities in relation to the violation, click here)