Indonesia issues record fines to companies over stock market violations
Indonesian regulator OJK said the penalties were part of reforms following MSCI’s warning of a possible downgrade of Indonesian equities over inadequate curbs on coordinated trading.
Jakarta, Indonesia - The country's financial regulator, OJK, has imposed record fines totaling 2.1 trillion rupiah ($116.67 million) on parties found guilty of violating trading rules in three listed companies, according to a statement released on Wednesday. The fines were the largest ever imposed by the regulator, known by its Indonesian abbreviation OJK.
The penalties were part of capital market reforms following a warning from MSCI, a global ratings agency, that it may downgrade Indonesia's equities from emerging to standalone market status due to insufficient efforts to combat coordinated trading practices in the stock market.
OJK imposed a fine of 1.5 trillion rupiah ($83.33 million) on a company identified as SMT for manipulating the shares of Dian Swastatika, a subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas group, leading to a significant price increase. Dian Swastatika is involved in mining and energy sectors. Another company, AH Ltd, received a fine of 500 billion rupiah ($28 million) for concealing information during the initial public offering (IPO) of Barito Renewables, a geothermal company controlled by Indonesian tycoon Prajogo Pangestu.
A third company, TC Pte Ltd, was fined 100 billion rupiah ($5.6 million) for a similar offense related to the IPO of Petrindo, another firm also controlled by Pangestu.
Those fined, including Sinar Mas Group and Prajogo Pangestu, were given letters stating their compliance with OJK's enforcement measures and their commitment to following regulations. Dian Swastatika, Barito Renewables, and Petrindo separately informed the stock exchange of their respect for OJK's law enforcement measures and their intention to adhere to the rules in their filings on Monday.
The three companies were part of MSCI's indices but were removed earlier this year. Additionally, OJK fined several securities companies for market violations and temporarily froze underwriting permits for two individuals, all identified only by their initials.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
