• NORFSA fined four investors for uncovered short selling in Nordic Mining ASA (NOM).

Main Points

• Investors sold NOM shares, fulfilling delivery obligations after the sales with newly issued shares; at the time of sale, the new share capital was not registered in the Companies Register, nor was an approved listing prospectus published.
• For NORFSA, the investors were not owners of the new NOM shares at the time of sale.
• Nor were they covered in any other way that ensured timely delivery of the sales.
• The sales thus constituted uncovered short selling; fines between NOK 50,000-850,000.

Fines

• Fine of NOK 800,000 to Orca Capital GmbH; fine of NOK 600,000 to Odfjell Land AS.
• Fine of NOK 50,000 to anonymous entity; fine of NOK 850,000 to anonymous entity.

NORFSA Next Steps

• Based on the violations uncovered in the Flyr and NOM cases, NORFSA will provide further guidance on uncovered short selling in connection with private placements.
• Follows, NORFSA May 2023 fined investors for short selling rule breaches.