MESOP THE BIG MONEY OF KURDISTAN / Murat Özgül’s & Levent Akca’s & Tony Haywards Tricks against Kurds

New Genel Energy boss, ex-GE head in Iraqi Kurdistan fined for market abuse

The Guardian 14 July 2015 – LONDON,— Oil producer Genel Energy has launched a boardroom shake-up, appointing an executive who was fined more than £100,000 by the former City regulator for market abuse five years ago to run the company. Murat Özgül, who ran the company’s operations in Turkey and Kurdistan, has taken over as chief executive. He replaces Tony Hayward, the former BP boss, who moves upstairs to chairman following the resignation on Sunday of Rodney Chase. The now defunct Financial Services Authority fined Özgül £105,240 in February 2010 for dealing in shares of Genel’s joint venture partner Heritage Oil following test results that revealed a large oil strike in Iraq. The companies were in merger talks at the time. Özgül was punished along with Mehmet Sepil, who was Genel’s boss and was fined what was then a record £967,005 for market abuse. The men said they were unaware their actions broke any rules and the FSA said it accepted there was no intention to commit market abuse.

At the time of the fine, Özgül was Genel’s chief commercial officer. Levent Akca, the company’s exploration manager, was also fined. The FSA said the three men attended a series of meetings on 4 May 2009 where the oil find was discussed. The following day the three men each asked their brokers to buy shares in Heritage. On 6 May, Heritage announced what was billed as a “major oil discovery” to the City, sending its shares up 25%. That day Sepil, Özgül and Akca all sold their shares at a profit. Özgül made £35,240.

The FSA, which has been replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority, said in its judgment that Özgül approached the regulator about his dealings and cooperated. If he had not done so, he would have been fined more and could have been prosecuted in a criminal court, the FSA said.Hayward said: “Murat has been a longstanding member of the Genel executive team and has overseen the growth of our KRI production to over 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Murat is well qualified to progress the development of our world-class KRI gas fields, and I look forward to working closely with him on delivering our strategic plans.”

Hayward’s appointment as chairman is at odds with the City’s corporate governance code, but confirms his recovery from a career low at BP. He was forced to quit his job as chief executive of BP after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster but has reemerged at Genel and as non-executive chairman of Glencore, the commodities trader and miner. Hayward’s Vallares investment vehicle bought Genel, then a private company, in 2011 to exploit the oil fields of Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Nat Rothschild, the son of Baron Rothschild, was one of the main investors in Vallares and sits on Genel’s board. Chase, a former deputy chief executive of BP, took over as chairman when Vallares bought Genel. Hayward said: “Rodney has been a driving force in the establishment of Genel Energy as a respected London-listed company. It has been a great pleasure working with him, and on behalf of the board and the company I would like to express my sincere gratitude for his leadership.”

When Vallares bought Genel, the company aimed to join the FTSE 100 index by early 2012. But Genel, which is lossmaking, has been hampered by political problems in Iraq that have resulted in missed payments by the Kurdish regional government to Genel and other oil producers.

In a trading update, Genel said production in the first half of 2015 was up 41% from a year earlier and that its growth was “integral in helping Kurdish regional government achieve its export goals”. In a regulatory announcement about Özgül’s appointment, Genel said: “In 2010 the Financial Services Authority imposed a financial penalty on Murat Özgül in respect of share dealing around the time of a possible merger of Genel Enerji and Heritage Oil. The FSA, in their public statement, acknowledged that Murat Özgül did not set out to commit market abuse.”