The Court of Appeal unanimously rejected the appeals of the deceased Andreas Vgenopoulos, through the liquidator of his estate, and of Efthymios Bouloutas, which were directed against the decision of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, which had imposed administrative fines of a total of 1.5 million euros on them.
According to the two decisions of the Court of Appeal, which it issued on October 17, 2023, the lawsuit against Vgenopoulos concerned a total administrative fine imposed by the Capital Market Commission of €705,000, while the lawsuit against Boulouta concerned a total administrative fine of €805,000.
Andreas Vgenopoulos, through the liquidator of his inherited property, and Efthymios Bouloutas challenged as “wrong” the decision of the first instance court to reject their application and not to reject the action due to lack of jurisdiction, not to set aside the service of the bequest made to them in 3/3/2015 and not to set aside the previous decree of sealing and permission to serve abroad.
It is noted that the administrative fines imposed on the appellants by the Capital Market Commission related to violations of Article 11(2)(b) of the Acts of Persons Possessing Confidential Information and Acts of Market Manipulation, of Article 20(4) of the Public Offer and Prospectus Law of 2005 and Article 40(1) of the Law which provides for the Transparency Conditions regarding information concerning an issuer, whose securities have been admitted to trading on a regulated market.
As stated by the KYPE, the Capital Market Commission proceeded, according to the Court of Appeal, to file a lawsuit for payment of the fines, since they had not been paid, while it is noted that with this decision the fines that were then imposed on Vgenopoulos and Bouloutas by the Capital Market Commission remain in force .
The Court of Appeal mentions in its decisions that in case of failure to pay an administrative fine or monetary payment, which is determined in the context of a compromise, the Capital Market Commission may take legal measures to collect it, in which case the amount owed is collected as a civil debt.
