SIX Exchange Regulation has imposed a fine of CHF 200,000 on Weatherford International Ltd., Zug, for breaching its duty to disclose management transactions, and for infringing the rules governing ad hoc publicity and listing procedures.
Breach of the duty to disclose management transactions:
SIX Exchange Regulation found that Weatherford International Ltd. published a management transaction too late. The report was issued by the relevant member of the Management to Weatherford International Ltd. in due time. However, owing to organizational deficiencies, the responsible individual at Weatherford International Ltd. did not forward the report to SIX Exchange Regulation in due time. This resulted in a considerable delay before the relevant management transaction was published.
Breach of the rules governing ad hoc publicity:
With respect to the capital increase proposed by the Board of Directors in 2012, the company did not publish the agenda item for the creation of new authorized capital, nor did it subsequently publish the corresponding rejection of the general meeting of shareholders in accordance with the rules governing ad hoc publicity. SIX Exchange Regulation found that both the agenda item and its rejection by the general meeting of shareholders were potentially price-sensitive facts that should have been communicated by means of an ad hoc notice.
Breach of the rules governing listing procedures:
Weatherford International Ltd. failed to file a listing application with SIX Exchange Regulation in due time in connection with the capital increase from authorized capital which took place on 29 May 2012. The application for the listing of new shares was only submitted after a reminder was issued by SIX Exchange Regulation. The timely announcement of a capital increase is important for the market capitalization to be calculated correctly, published and reflected in indices.
These violations were judged to be the result of negligence and were classified as moderately serious violations in the overall assessment. The company has not been sanctioned by SIX Exchange Regulation or the Sanction Commission in the past three years. SIX Exchange Regulation has therefore imposed a fine of CHF 200,000 on Weatherford International Ltd. in connection with a sanction notice. The company has accepted this sanction notice.