DISPUTE WATCH- Court rejects Acumen Holding’s lawsuit against FRA boss for reputational damage: A Giza court rejected yesterday a EGP 20 mn lawsuit filed by Acumen Holding against Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) Chairman Mohamed Omran for alleged reputational damage, according to Al Mal. The company had demanded compensation for harm it claimed was caused to its reputation as a result of an FRA ban in 2017 that was later overruled, Acumen Chairman Rana Adawi said in July.

Background: An administrative court in June overturned the FRA’s decision to ban Acumen from buying Egypt Gas shares for three months and ordered the regulator to pay EGP 30k in compensation. The FRA had banned Acumen in October 2017 after alleging that Egypt Gas shares had been subject to stock manipulation. Acumen had denied the allegations and challenged the FRA’s decision.

Omran is cruising through lawsuits this week: The Kerdasa Misdemeanors Court has declined to hear a separate lawsuit filed against Omran and two of his deputies, Khalid El Nashar and Reza Abdel Moaty, by Raya Holding. The court said the case did not fall within its jurisdiction, according to Al Mal.

Background: The FRA had initially filed a lawsuit against Raya Holding’s Chairman Medhat Khalil in May alleging that he failed to pay an EGP 11 mn fine handed out after he exceeded the maximum ownership limit in Raya without making a mandatory tender offer (MTO). Khalil, who was seeking to reduce or overturn the fine, had requested that the dispute resolution committee act as the mediator, to which the FRA insisted that its own committee should mediate the dispute, and a new dispute arose back in July.