ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has filed four criminal complaints against individuals involved in manipulating stock prices, including sponsors and brokerage house management.

The complaints filed at the Banking Offence Court Lahore against the accused individuals have been admitted.

The cases have been filed after the investigations by the Supervision Department of the SECP.

The investigations were conducted after the initial inquiry revealed that the accused gained significant profits by manipulating the share prices of three listed companies in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The investigations established that these individuals placed high-priced orders and traded with one another to artificially raise the share prices of specific stocks.

However, the SECP has not disclosed the names of the accused, but the commission has added that the four individuals placed fake buy orders and then cancelled a large number of these transactions, resulting in fictitious quotations to deceive potential investors.

The accused also fraudulently misused clients’ accounts to place large orders, aiming to attract the public by creating a false sense of demand for the shares.

In terms of the Securities Act 2015, market manipulation, being a criminal offence, may lead to imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs200 million.

The SECP has said that it was committed to taking effective supervision and enforcement actions to ensure the integrity of the capital market and protect investors from malpractice.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2024