The Johannesburg Stock Exchange launched Friday an
investigation into mobile giant MTN for “possible
insider trading” before the South African company
announced it had been hit by a $5.2 billion fine in
Nigeria.
The Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) fined Africa’s
largest telecoms firm for missing a
deadline to deactivate 5.1 million
unregistered SIM cards.
News of the fine broke Monday
morning in Nigeria, sparking a sell-
off of MTN shares before the
company formally notified
shareholders later in the day.
“The market regulation team is
looking into trades that took place
before the announcement in order to
determine if there is any evidence of
possible insider trading,” Peter
Redman, Johannesburg Stock
Exchange (JSE) market regulation
advisor, said in a statement.
South African law dictates that
companies immediately warn
shareholders about price-sensitive
information.
“The investigation will follow due
process to establish whether there
have been any breaches of the
listings requirements and can be
lengthy process,” said Andre Visser,
JSE regulation manager.
MTN issued a statement saying
“senior management of the company
and its advisors are currently
engaging with the JSE Limited on
the timing of the… announcement.”
The probe could result in South
Africa’s bourse operator slapping
MTN with another hefty fine or
result in criminal charges.
“It just puts the company under
additional pressure,” said Amy
Cameron, telecoms analyst at BMI
Research, a market research firm
based in London. “It will be another
really big challenge.”
Cameron said that MTN should brace
itself for a rocky few months.
“It could look into some sort of
international arbitration, because a
5.2 billion dollar fine is absolutely
crippling,” she said.
Early in August the NCC issued a
directive to mobile telecoms
companies operating in Nigeria to
deactivate all unregistered SIM cards
within seven days or face sanctions.
The penalty saw the company’s
shares crash on the JSE and raised
questions about the renewal of its
licence in Nigeria next year if the
fine goes unpaid.
The NCC has set a November 16
deadline for MTN to pay the fine.
MTN had more than 62.8 million
subscribers in Nigeria — its biggest
market — in the second quarter of
this year.

www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/10/s-africa-launches-insider-trading-probe-over-mtns-nigeria-fine/

una nor sabi anything

they never see anything...... We d esteem customers will b d one 2 suffer @ d end

They never see chum tin. More hammer go soon heat them

This information should be on front page. A lot of things seem to be happening at the same time. This info, I believe, will alleviate mmuch anger in the minds of many Nigerians