THE Financial Services Board (FSB) has fined market manipulators more than R24m in the past six years, and warns it will continue to penalise offenders.
When fines for insider trading and false reporting are included, the total was R97m, Shaeeda Hoosen, senior forensic investigator at the FSB’s Directorate of Market Abuse, said on Monday. She said that market manipulation was a crime that could lead to jail or loss of professional standing.
Recently, Zubeir Moosa was fined R4m for manipulating the sunflowers futures contracts and Douglas Reed was fined R2m for manipulating the Vox Telecom securities, the FSB said.
Nazeem Hendricks and James Mohlaba were fined R5m each for manipulating the Afgri, Metair Investments, Palabora Mining and Comair securities.
The Directorate of Market Abuse refers contraventions such as insider trading, false reporting and market manipulation to the FSB’s enforcement committee.
Once this committee makes a determination it is filed with the registrar of a competent court and has the effect of a civil judgment by a high court, said Ms Hoosen.
“For the manipulator, this means the possibility of losing that flashy car and big-screen TV (movable assets), shares in a company (incorporeal assets) or that mansion in Camps Bay (immovable assets), if these assets are attached and sold in execution,” she said.
The FSB has reported a number of cases of market manipulation to professional bodies such as the CFA Institute, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and the JSE.