Media Release

SIX Exchange Regulation AG (SER) which is responsible for monitoring and enforcing stock exchange regulations concerning listed companies, opened an investigation against Swissquote Group Holding SA on 2 June 2022 after having conducted a preliminary inquiry. The reason hereof was the ad hoc announcement published on 16 June 2021 “Thanks to outstanding growth, Swissquote expects record half-year results”. Having completed a thorough investigation, SER submitted a sanction proposal to the Sanctions Commission of SIX Group AG. The Sanctions Commission of SIX Group AG sanctioned Swissquote Group Holding SA by decision dated 29 November 2022 with a fine in the amount of CHF 75’000. The decision of the Sanctions Commission of SIX Group AG became legally binding after Swissquote Group Holding SA chose not to appeal.

The Sanctions Commission of SIX Group AG largely concurred with SER’s sanction proposal regarding the alleged violations of the Listing Rules (LR) and the Directive on Ad hoc Publicity. It held that, mainly due to a technical issue and human error, the distribution of the ad hoc announcement dated 16 June 2021 was not in compliance with Art. 7 et seqq. DAH. The delayed operation of the Push System, approximately three hours after the distribution of the ad hoc announcement and during trading hours, violates Art. 7 DAH in connection with Art. 8 DAH and Art. 10 para. 2 DAH and consequently also Art. 6 DAH.

In determining the sanction, the Sanctions Commission of SIX Group AG took into account the degree of fault, the severity of the breach, which was qualified as «serious but not as severe» (in particular because, despite the issues encountered with the Push System, the ad hoc announcement was broadly distributed to media and market participants) and the sensitivity to a sanction.