On 26 September 2025, the FSMA’s Sanctions Committee handed down its decision concerning Nyrstar NV and the directors who were in office at the time of the actions in question. The decision has been published on the FSMA’s website (available in Dutch only).
By way of reminder: this decision follows on from the investigations officer’s investigation reports and the decisions by the FSMA Management Committee of 30 September 2022 and 26 September 2023 to initiate, based on those reports, proceedings before the Sanctions Committee that may lead to the imposition of an administrative fine. More information on these decisions is available in the FSMA press releases of 25 July 2022 and 30 September 2022, which, like this press release, were published to properly inform the market .
The Sanctions Committee identified two infringements on the part of Nyrstar NV: an infringement of the prohibition of market manipulation provided for in Article 15 of the Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) and a failure to comply with the obligation, provided for in Article 17 of the same Regulation, to inform the FSMA, immediately after a delayed disclosure to the public of inside information, of the said delay and to provide a written explanation of how the legal conditions for the delay were met.
Specifically as regards the infringement of the prohibition of market manipulation, the Sanctions Committee deems that Nyrstar NV provided false or misleading information, stating on 30 October 2018 that there was a strong committed liquidity of 631 million euros, whereas that amount had by that time decreased to 440 million euros, and the latest weekly liquidity forecast as at the end of December 2018 stabilized at a positive amount of less than 200 million euros. Moreover, on its website it described the latter amount as “enhanced”, whereas the liquidity had in fact decreased as compared to the previous quarter.
The second of three charges made by the Management Committee regarding a breach of the prohibition of market manipulation was thus considered to be partially well founded, while the other allegations as to the dissemination of allegedly misleading information about the solvency and liquidity position of Nyrstar NV, including its debt level and capital restructuring, were dismissed.
Nyrstar NV was cleared of the first charge (publication of allegedly false or misleading information about the relationship with Trafigura and certain sales and purchase agreements) and of the third charge (publication of allegedly false or misleading information about the expected profit contribution of the redevelopment of the site of its zinc smelter in Port Pirie).
The directors of Nyrstar NV (or their permanent representatives) who were in office at the time of these actions were cleared of the charge that they, as members of the Nyrstar NV Board of Directors, took part in the decision to disseminate information on behalf of Nyrstar NV about its liquidity position which has been determined to be false and misleading in nature, at a time when they knew or ought to have known that this information was false or misleading.
For the infringements determined to have been committed by Nyrstar NV, the Sanctions Committee imposes an administrative fine of 80,000 euros.