34In this case, Article 187b of the TUF provides that any person who has committed market manipulation is liable to an administrative fine of between EUR 20000 and 5000000, and that penalty may, in certain circumstances, as follows from paragraph 5 of that article, be increased by up to 3 times its amount or up to an amount 10 times greater than the proceeds or profit obtained from the offence. Moreover, the Italian Government stated, in its observations submitted to the Court, that the application of that penalty always involves the confiscation of the product or the profit gained as a result of the offence and the goods used for the commission thereof. It appears therefore that that penalty is not only intended to repair the harm caused by the offence, but that it also pursues a punitive purpose, which moreover corresponds to the referring court’s assessment and that it is therefore criminal in nature.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.