A few days ago, *ST Poten (603603) announced that it received the "Prior Notice of Administrative Punishment and Market Ban" issued by the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau.
According to the Notice, the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau determined that *ST Poten had inflated or reduced its operating income and profits through various means, resulting in false records in the annual reports for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Among them, the company's balance sheet in 2020 and 2021 falsely recorded a total of 195.5 billion yuan, accounting for 138 percent of the total amount of net assets at the end of the year disclosed in 2020 and 202106%。
The Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau pointed out in the announcement that the illegal act of information disclosure falsely recorded by ST Potian lasted for a long time, and the amount of false records was large and the proportion was high, which seriously damaged the market order. If the company touches the situation of forced delisting due to material violations according to the facts determined in the administrative penalty decision, the company's listing will be terminated.
In this regard, the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau intends to decide to give a warning to *ST Poten and impose a fine of 5 million yuanZhao Lijun, then chairman and president, was given a warning and fined 3 million yuanWarnings were given to other relevant responsible persons and fines ranging from $1 million to $2 million, with a total fine of $13 million. At the same time, Zhao Lijun was banned from entering the market for 7 years.
On the same day as the issuance of the Notice, *ST Poten also received a regulatory work letter from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, requiring the company and all directors, supervisors and senior management to strictly abide by laws and regulations and the relevant regulations of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, disclose information related to delisting in a timely, accurate and complete manner, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors, especially small and medium-sized investors.
In view of the fact that the pre-penalty letter has been issued, Liu Peng, a lawyer at Shanghai Huzi Law Firm, said that investors who sold or still held and lost money during the period from April 28, 2018 to March 31, 2023, and sold or still held after the market closed on April 1, 2023, can file a civil compensation lawsuit against the company. Eligible investors can register and participate in the claim through the official account "Dazhong ** Daily" (feature code: 11), and the final specific claim conditions are subject to the court's determination.