Estonia, Exchange, Financial Services

Ivari Padar.

Lauri Lind, head of the stock markets department of Swedbank, stated that currently there is no danger of someone manipulating with the prices of stocks on the Estonian bourse – it would be too expensive for the person in question in the context of the global decline.

Lind remarked that market manipulation has already been regulated with a EU directive and Estonian laws. He added that there are also real punishments foreseen for market manipulation, but thus far no investigations have reached sentencing.

“There have been investigations, but no one has been charged and no court trials have been held,” he noted.

Head of the financial markets department of the Ministry of Finance Thomas Auväärt stated that drafting of the proposal is not directly linked to the situation on the global financial market; it is based on the EU market abuse regulations and guidelines.

Auväärt stated that the objective of the regulation is to provide clearer bases for making transactions with securities so that there would be no violations of regulations on the market manipulation.