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The Disciplinary Committee of Nasdaq Stockholm has found that GomSpace Group AB (“GomSpace”) has breached Nasdaq First North Nordic Rulebook (“the Rule Book”) in several respects and, accordingly, has imposed a fine on GomSpace amounting to two annual fees, corresponding to an amount of SEK 447,122.
Without prior announcement through a news distributor, GomSpace published a press release on its website that contained information about the completion of the acquisition of the company NanoSpace AB at 1:22 p.m. on Friday, October 14, 2016. The next day, GomSpace contacted, through its Certified Adviser, Nasdaq Stockholm and inform that a press release had been mistakenly published on the company’s website, and that the information in the press release was erroneous since the acquisition had not yet been completed.
At 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 16, the company published a press release with the heading “GomSpace completes acquisition of NanoSpace,” in which it stated that the acquisition would be completed the following day.
The Disciplinary Committee has found that GomSpace, by having published misleading and erroneous information and by its failure to disclose correct information regarding the acquisition, has breached item 4.1 of the Rule Book.
On February 14, 2017, GomSpace informed, through its certified adviser, Nasdaq Stockholm that the company was in negotiations with a potential customer regarding an order that would be the largest order ever for GomSpace, and that a press release to this effect was planned for February 17, 2017.
On February 20, 2017, GomSpace’s certified adviser notified Nasdaq Stockholm that the agreement would instead be signed at a meeting on February 28, 2017, and that GomSpace the same day had decided to delay the disclosure of the information.
The Disciplinary Committee determined that the information regarding the negotiations about the potential order comprised inside information from February 14, 2017. By not publishing the information as soon as possible on February 14, 2017, or taking a decision to delay the disclosure, the Disciplinary Committee has also in this respect found that GomSpace has breached item 4.1 of the Rule Book.
In summary, the Disciplinary Committee has found that GomSpace in several respects has acted in breach of item 4.1 of the Rule Book. Given the difficulty in applying the new rule book in conjunction with the negotiations of an order under a tender process, the Disciplinary Committee is of the opinion that the sanction should not exceed a fine of two annual fees.
A detailed description of the matter and the Disciplinary Committee’s decision are available at:
http://www.nasdaqomx.com/listing/europe/surveillance/stockholm/disciplinarycommittee/decisions/
Participating in the Committee’s decision were former Supreme Court Justice Marianne Lundius, MBA Ragnar Boman, Director Anders Oscarsson, Director Erik Einerth and Lawyer Patrik Marcelius.
