The agreed settlement consists of a payment of EUR 125,000 and publication by name on the website of the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA).
The FSMA's sanctions policy is one of the means whereby it fulfils its mission and ensures that the information disseminated by companies gives a true and fair view of the company and is made public in appropriate ways.
The grounds for this agreed settlement is the fact that between 22 May 2014 and 16 July 2014, OIM, a holding company listed on Euronext Brussels that has its registered office in the United Kingdom, disseminated incorrect and misleading information about the payment of a dividend.
The information was incorrect because the dividend was not paid on the date initially announced, nor on the date to until which the payment was postponed. The information was misleading because the company gave the faulty impression that it had sufficient resources available to pay the proposed dividend, although it did not meet the formal requirements for a dividend payment to be made by a company with its registered office in the United Kingdom.
As part of its administrative sanctions policy, the FSMA can accept an agreed settlement if the party concerned cooperates with the investigation.
In determining the amount of the agreed settlement, account was taken of the measures adopted by OIM after 24 July 2014 in order to limit the consequences of the infringement, and of OIM's financial capacity.
The full text of the agreed settlement can be consulted on the FSMA's website (available in Dutch only).