Finland Appeals court finds former Nokian Tyres CEO guilty of insider trading

Helsinki, Finland – Helsinki Court of Appeal issued a judgment in the securities market criminal case of Nokian Tyres. The case heard in the Court of Appeal was related to the events of 2015–2016. According to the charges, the company’s Board of Directors and President and CEO at the time had failed to disclose information affecting the value of the company’s securities in December 2015. In addition, according to the charges, four of the company’s employees had made insider transactions with the company’s stock options at the end of 2015. The District Court had dismissed all charges in 2022.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the charges against the company’s former board members Hille Korhonen, Raimo Lind, Inka Mero, Hannu Penttilä and Petteri Walldén. The Court of Appeal sentenced the company’s former President and CEO Ari Lehtoranta to a fine for a securities market information offence. Three of the company’s employees were sentenced to fines and one employee to 4 months and 15 days of suspended imprisonment for misuse of inside information. The company was ordered to pay a corporate fine of EUR 50,000. The company was not found to have engaged in malpractices in magazine tests as alleged in the charges.

“We are surprised by the judgment of the Court of Appeal. We will go through the verdict carefully and assess separately whether there is reason to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court,” says Kai Kotiranta, the company’s attorney-at-law.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal is not final. The company does not comment on the matter further.