The Kuwait Capital Markets Authority has issued a Disciplinary Board decision imposing financial penalties of KD 50,000 on Al-Bareeq Holding Company and 14 individuals, including current and former board members and several related parties, for breaches of the listing, disclosure and transparency, corporate governance and market behaviour requirements. The decision cites, among other findings, failures to apply International Financial Reporting Standards in the company’s accounting and disclosures, including IFRS 5, IAS 24 and IAS 7. It also identifies non-disclosure on Boursa Kuwait of material information, including cash transfers of KD 9.05 million to a related party and other transactions and board decisions, with the KD 9.05 million transfers described as about 22% of total assets as at 30 September 2019. Governance breaches include inadequate safeguards and approvals around asset disposals and acquisitions, weak contract terms on payment and collection, a risk committee failure to produce technical studies and risk reporting for major transactions, and approval of acquisitions without ensuring title deeds and, in some cases, before the targets’ incorporation dates. The market conduct findings describe coordinated transactions that transferred high-quality, income-generating assets valued at about KD 34.4 million to related parties without fair consideration and replaced them with lower-quality or non-qualifying assets, leading to allegedly misleading financial information affecting the company’s share price and trading; named individuals penalised include Abdullah Mohammed Al-Abduljader, Sami Mohammed Khuraisan, Tasneem Abdul Azim Marafie, Sheikha Bader Al-Langawi, Yara Jubaili and Ahmed Abdel Fattah Bayoumi Badr.
Kuwait Capital Markets Authority 2025-05-19
Kuwait Capital Markets Authority Disciplinary Board fines Al-Bareeq Holding Company and 14 individuals KD 50,000 each for listing, governance, disclosure and market conduct breaches
The Kuwait Capital Markets Authority fined Al-Bareeq Holding Company and 14 individuals KD 50,000 for breaches of listing, disclosure, transparency, corporate governance, and market behavior requirements. Violations included not applying International Financial Reporting Standards, non-disclosure of material information, inadequate governance safeguards, and misleading financial information affecting share price and trading. Key individuals penalized include Abdullah Mohammed Al-Abduljader and Sami Mohammed Khuraisan.