AMF France v. A and B (insider trading, 2009)

Dismissed

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 5, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, in a single reading of the French decision; an independent second reading of 60 of the AMF records agreed on every field for 54 and on the core fields for 59. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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On 25 June 2009 the Commission des sanctions cleared two former colleagues of insider trading over purchases of 18,000 Petit Forestier shares made the day before an investment agreement with Sofina at EUR 95 a share, finding it not shown that the buyer had been given inside information.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

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Disgorgement

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Prejudgment interest

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Total relief

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Alleged gain

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A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The first section of the Commission des sanctions decided this matter on 25 June 2009, after an investigation opened by the AMF's secretary general and notifications of grievances sent on 22 July 2008. The issuer was Petit Forestier, a refrigerated-vehicle rental company on Eurolist; on 21 July 2007 it agreed a deal with Sofina valuing it at EUR 95 a share against a last price of EUR 72.78, followed by a simplified takeover offer at that price.

The AMF alleged that A had passed to B the inside information that the 21 July agreement was imminent, and that B had used it by buying 18,000 shares on 20 July 2007 for his parents and for an account with his two sisters, a gain of EUR 407,230 after the shares were tendered into the offer.

The Commission examined the indicators. A and B had been at the same school in Brussels and later both worked at Sofina, but B had occasional contacts with A like those with other former colleagues. The purchases cost about EUR 1.3 million, but B managed portfolios for his parents worth about EUR 18 million with comparable holdings, had bought 10,000 of the same shares on 15 March 2007, and had placed orders with a price limit and no time limit; he bought two blocks that his bank said were available and financed them by selling other positions. It concluded it was not shown that only inside information could explain the purchases, and that it was not established that A had passed on any information.

It cleared both men and ordered publication in anonymised form. No financial penalty was imposed.

This record does not show wrongdoing: the charges were rejected.

This library tags the matter as insider trading (alleged conduct; the charges were rejected). The tagging is ours, not the regulator’s.

For the regulator’s own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the decision.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Insider trading — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2009-06-25 Commission des sanctions decision

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• AMF decision page
• Decision (PDF, French)

The linked release is published by the issuing regulator under its own terms. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added October 5, 2026. submit a correction.