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LSE Censures and Fines Meridien Petroleum PLC for Breaches of The AIM Rules

 

On 19 June 2008 the LSE announced that it had publicly censured and fined Meridian Petroleum plc £75,000 for breaches of AIM Rules 10 ,11 and 31 during the period from August 2004 to February 2007.  Meridian had repeatedly failed to take reasonable care to ensure announcements made to the market during this period were not misleading and to update the market.  It had also not sought advice from its nominated adviser.

Whilst the LSE has jurisdiction to take action against the AIM listed Meridien Petroleum PLC the FSA has  similar jurisdiction to take action over fully listed Companies. Woolworths PLC was recently fined £350,000 for breach of a Listing Principle as a result of  its delay in disclosing a significant variation to the terms of a major supply contract of one of Woolworths subsidiaries, Entertainment UK Limited ,and its impact on Woolworths’ profits.

Furthermore an unnamed AIM listed company has also recently been fined £75,000 for breach of AIM Rule 10, which sets out the market’s disclosure principles. The LSE said that this company released two announcements which contained, “misleading and unrealistically optimistic statements” about its prospects and operations.

CONCLUSIONS

  1. Ensure that all announcements are accurate
  2. Do not  omit inconvenient facts which would make announcements misleading
  3. Ensure that predictions can be justified at a later date
  4. If it is an AIM Listed Company keep your nomad involved and give it time to advise you
 

Philip Rubens  

For more information please contact:

Philip Rubens
Partner, Head of Regulatory Enforcement
T:  +44 (0)20 7344 5552
philip.rubens@fsilaw.com