It states acting prosecutor Henrik Helmer Steen of the Attorney General for Special Economic and International Crime (SØIK). 

The notice relates to Aarhus Lokalbank A / S 'trading of treasury shares in the period from 1 September 2009 to 5 February 2010.

" It is a matter of fundamental importance for defining the access of listed banks to trading in own issued shares and thus for the confidence in the market," says Deputy Advocate Henrik Helmer Steen.

The price manipulation occurred according to the assertion that Aarhus Lokalbank A / S demanded in the period daily its own issued share at a higher price than the other buyers in the market were willing to pay and at the same time were involved in more than 2/3 of the transactions made in the share. As a result, Aarhus Lokalbank A / S secured a bottom line in the share price development.

Aarhus Lokalbank A / S's bid and trading in the market were, according to the appellation, appropriate to affect the price of the share in a direction that deviated from the value of the stock in the market, as they were suitable for giving false or misleading signals about the demand for or the price of the share and secured that the price of the stock was maintained at an artificial or abnormal level.  

The case has been brought before the Court in Aarhus.

For further information, contact Attorney General Henrik Helmer Steen, hhs001@politi.dk, tel. 72 68 91 51 or Deputy Attorney Hans Fogtdal, hfo003@politi.dk , tel. +45 40 44 28 45.

Public Prosecutor's Office Mikkel Thastum, tel. 25 12 61 48.