The former footballer Gerard Piqué has been fined 200,000 euros by the Spanish securities regulator for buying shares in a company using privileged information about a takeover bid before it was made public.
The National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) published the sanction in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Monday and described the violation as "very serious," both under Spanish securities market regulations in force at the time of the events and under the European regulation on market abuse.
The transaction would have generated an estimated profit of around 47,000 euros for the former Barcelona defender, meaning that the imposed fine is more than four times the profit he would have obtained.
Along with Piqué, Francisco José Elías Navarro, the founder of Audax Renovables, received a fine of 100,000 euros for illegally transmitting the confidential data that underpinned the stock market transaction.
According to CincoDías, these are the highest level of sanctions within the CNMV's jurisdiction, and for this reason, they are made public.
The fines were approved by the board of the market supervisor at the end of February of this year. The resolution is final in the administrative process and, therefore, can be appealed in the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the National Court.
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Pulse: The sanction against the former Barcelona defender amounts to 200,000 euros, more than four times the profit he would have obtained from the penalized transaction.
Piqué sanctioned for using privileged information. Comments: The former footballer Gerard Piqué was fined 200,000 euros by the Spanish securities regulator for buying shares in a company using privileged information about a takeover bid before it was made public. The National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) published the sanction in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Monday and described the violation as "very serious," both under Spanish securities market regulations in force at the time of the events and under European regulations on market abuse. The transaction would have generated an estimated profit of around 47,000 euros for the former Barcelona defender, meaning that the imposed fine exceeds more than four times the profit he would have obtained. Along with Piqué, Francisco José Elías Navarro, founder of Audax Renovables, received a fine of 100,000 euros for illegally transmitting the confidential data that underpinned the stock market transaction. According to CincoDías, these are the highest level of sanctions within the CNMV's jurisdiction, and for this reason, they are made public. The fines were approved by the supervisory board of the market regulator at the end of February of this year. The resolution is final in administrative proceedings and, therefore, can be appealed to the Administrative Chamber of the National Court. More on: Gerard Piqué, Privileged information, NEWSLETTER, Pulse. Monday to Friday, 12:30 PM. The most relevant news in markets, companies, and business: timely information, context, and content to make better decisions. By subscribing, you accept the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies of La Tercera.