Oslo Børs Imposes A Violation Charge On Oxxy Group PLC

Oslo Børs has made the following decision:  “A violation charge is hereby imposed on Oxxy Group PLC for material breaches of the rules for Merkur Market in an amount of NOK 1,000,000, cf. Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market section 12.3 (2) and (3).

The Company has not disclosed material information about conversion of shareholder advances to Oslo Børs in the admission process for Merkur Market. Information about the conversion of shareholder advances is only to a limited and incomprehensible extent included in the Company’s admission document. The Company has not disclosed inside information about the conversion of shareholder advances before the announcement of 14 April 2016.

The decision may be appealed to the Merkur Market Appeals Committee, cf. section 14 of the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market.”  

A brief summary of the case:
Oxxy Group’s breaches of the rules for Merkur Market are substantial. The size of the violation charge reflects this. Oslo Børs considered removing the company’s shares from trading on Merkur Market, but after an overall assessment the violation charge was set to the maximum Oslo Børs may impose on a company traded on Merkur Market. If new breaches on Merkur Market rules are committed, this case will be important when considering if the company’s shares are suitable for trading on the market place.

Oxxy Group PLC was admitted to trading on Merkur Market on 13 January 2016.The conversion of shareholder advances announced 14 April 2016, resulted in a considerable dilution of the shareholders not participating in the share issuances. The conversion prices were at a significant discount compared to the trading price. The conversion increased the number of ordinary shares by approximately 230%. The average conversion price of NOK 0.53 represented a 98% discount compared to the last trading price of the share on Merkur Market.