The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case regarding the manipulation of Mechel shares. According to investigators, the main role in the collapse of the company's shares by 47% in November 2013 was played by BCS

Photo: "RIA Novosti"

The Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) said on Thursday that the main role in the collapse of shares of the metallurgical company Mechel in November 2013 was played by one of the professional participants in the securities market, BKS Company LLC. The statement was published on the ICR website.

According to investigators, in November 2013, unidentified persons sold ordinary shares of Mechel in the interests of Cypriot investment companies, the price of which, as a result of these transactions, “deviated significantly by more than 30% from the level that would have been formed without these transactions,” the statement notes. TFR statement. After the fall in prices, the defendants in the case bought Mechel shares and received “excess income in the amount of over 350 million rubles,” the Investigative Committee said.

The Investigative Committee reported that it had opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 185.3 of the Criminal Code (market manipulation). The Investigative Committee also confirmed the information that searches were carried out at the BCS office on March 10.

The fact that the office of the BCS financial group was searched on Thursday in connection with the case of manipulating Mechel shares was reported by Forbes, citing a source , and was confirmed by an RBC source. The press service of BCS confirmed the fact that law enforcement officers visited the company’s office and reported that employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs requested documents related to transactions of one of the clients.

On November 13, 2013, Mechel’s ordinary shares on the Moscow Exchange fell in price by 47% for no apparent reason. After the company's quotes collapsed again on February 28, 2014, this time by 40%, Mechel announced possible market manipulation and asked the Central Bank to conduct an investigation. Based on the results of the inspection, the Central Bank stated that on November 13, 2013 and February 28, 2014, eight Russian professional participants and ten foreign brokerage companies simultaneously placed large orders for the sale of Mechel shares, as a result of which the securities collapsed. The Central Bank stated that non-standard orders were placed in the interests of the company UFS Investments Ltd, market manipulation took place with the participation of the Russian company IC Arbat Finance LLC (formerly IC UFS Finance LLC). After this, the Central Bank canceled the license of Arbat Finance.

The BKS group disagreed with the TFR version, calling Markin’s statement “incorrect information.” “The message says that the main role in the fall in the stock price of Mechel OJSC was played by one of the professional participants in the securities market, BKS Company LLC, which is not true,” says the BCS statement received by RBC.

“In this case, the Investigative Committee confuses the BCS company and its clients. BCS did not buy or sell Mechel shares. BCS carries out orders from clients, a number of whom have made transactions with Mechel shares,” the statement quotes BCS President Oleg Mikhasenko as saying. “It was these clients that the documents were seized,” he insists.

Continuation of the story: “The Investigative Committee edited the message about the involvement of BCS in the collapse of Mechel shares”

The Investigative Committee named the main culprit in the collapse of Mechel shares