Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission announces Administrative Court annulment of EUR 6,388,300 and EUR 50,000 fines over improper board composition

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) published an update on an Administrative Court decision that annulled CySEC’s 13 November 2017 administrative sanctions against Ioannis Vardinoyiannis and Amalia Vardinoyiannis linked to their acquisition of shares in Sea Star Capital Plc on 29 March 2007. The court set aside the fines on procedural grounds, finding CySEC’s board was improperly constituted at a meeting treated as essential to the process. CySEC’s 2017 decision had imposed a total administrative fine of EUR 6,388,300 on Mr Ioannis Vardinoyiannis for breach of Article 9(1)(a) of the Market Abuse Law (116(I)/2005) and EUR 50,000 on Mrs Amalia Vardinoyiannis for breach of Article 41 of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission Law (73(I)/2009). The challenges (Applications Nos. 1523/2018 and 1524/2018) were examined jointly, and the Administrative Court annulled the fines after ruling that the board composition was non-proper on the date CySEC decided to call the individuals to make representations before the Commission, due to the participation of one board member.