The market watchdog in Greece, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission, on Thursday announced that it was filing a lawsuit again Folli Follie group after the listed company failed to provide urgently requested financial data.
The lawsuit was submitted to the Athens appellate prosecutor’s office, which means that the office will commence a preliminary investigation if deemed necessary.
The prosecutor’s office has 30 days to brief the market watchdog authority over its lawsuit and any probe that may arise as a result.
When a preliminary investigation is completed, the chief prosecutor will then decide on whether to file charges, as well as the judicial venue for such charges to be adjudicated – i.e. either a three-justice misdemeanor court or a three-justice appeals court if the indictment includes felony charges.
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) last Friday suspended trading of Folli Follie shares, following a relevant request by the Capital Markets Commission, and earlier, by the jewelry and accessory manufacturer and retailer itself.
Folli Follie’s shares have collapsed over the recent period at the ASE, following a particularly negative report by a NYC-based hedge fund (QCM) claiming major discrepancies in results and market presence reported by the Folli Follie Group (FFG).
FFG’s share closed at 4.8 euros on Thursday, May 24 at the ASE, with losses over the previous seven sessions nearing 30 percent. Over the last month, FFG’s capitalization shrunk by 70 percent, dropping to 321.35 billion euros, down from 1.027 billion euros on May 3, 2018.
