The SWX Swiss Exchange has established that Meyer Burger Technology AG has infringed the ad hoc publicity regulations of Art. 72 of the Listing Rules and the Directive on Ad hoc Publicity. The Sanction Commission of SWX has therefore issued a reprimand with related publication against Meyer Burger Technology AG.
Pursuant to Art. 72 of the Listing Rules, SWX obligates issuers to inform the market of any price-sensitive facts which have arisen in company’s sphere of activity and are not of public knowledge. Price-sensitive facts are facts which are capable of triggering a significant price change. Disclosure must be carried out so as to ensure equal treatment of all market participants, and the content of the related announcements must be factual, comprehensible and complete.
On 30 March 2007, Meyer Burger Technology AG informed the market that the company had managed to acquire a promising customer in China. The matter related to an order for the delivery of special sawing machines with a value in excess of CHF 20 million. In form, the announcement complied with the requirements of SWX. However, clarifications conducted by SWX have revealed that, of the total amount of the order, CHF 15 million had already been agreed in the previous year and thus was already disclosed as orders received in the company’s 2006 financial statements. This announcement awakened the impression that Meyer Burger Technology acquired a new customer in 2007 and an order valued at CHF 20 million.
One of the tasks of the SWX is to enforce the transparency provisions applicable to issuers. If an issuer breaches the provisions of the Listing Rules, SWX imposes one of the sanctions set out under Art. 82 of the Listing Rules, whereby the degree of fault and the magnitude of the breach are taken into consideration. In view of these criteria, the Sanction Commission of SWX has issued a reprimand with related publication against Meyer Burger Technology AG.
Information on ad hoc publicity provisions is available at: http://www.swx.com/admission/being_public/publicity_en.html
Previous SWX sanctions in the area of ad hoc publicity are available at: http://www.swx.com/admission/being_public/sanctions/media_releases/ad_hoc_en.html
