Beltone investors acquitted of market manipulation

Investors in Beltone shares acquitted of market manipulation: An economic court acquitted last week all 12 investors accused of manipulating Beltone Financial’s share price, Al Borsa reports. No Belton executive had been implicated in the case, which dates back to February 2016, when investors allegedly bid for large blocks of Beltone shares before canceling minutes later, prompting Beltone’s share price to surge. The EGX repeatedly reversed trades in Beltone’s shares, pushing Beltone to sue the heads of the EGX and EFSA for “deliberately harming” the firm. According to a report from experts enlisted by the court, the investors were found innocent of manipulating Beltone’s shares. The surge in the firm’s share price was attributed to the February 2016 announcement that Orascom Telecom Media Technology (OTMT) asked Beltone Financial, its subsidiary, to complete its acquisition of CI Capital as part of OTMT’s strategy to combine Beltone and CI Capital to create a regional financial conglomerate. The report also blamed the EGX’s reversal of trades for driving investors to speculate and purchase large chunks of the firm’s shares.