Sweden's Ekobrottsmyndigheten has charged Valuno's former CEO Daniel Sonesson and a former CFO with aggravated insider trading – they sold shares after the MiCA rejection, before it was made public.
Illustration: Ekobrottsmyndigheten
Valuno Group (formerly Quickbit) is listed on the Nordic Growth Market (NGM), and subsidiary QB Europe applied last year for authorisation under MiCA — the EU's framework for crypto services, in force since 2024. Sweden's financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen, rejected the application, a decision QB Europe later appealed and lost at Förvaltningsrätten in Stockholm.
Finansinspektionen rejected QB Europe's MiCA application on 3 July 2025. According to Ekobrottsmyndigheten, both the then chief executive and the then chief financial officer learned of the rejection that same day, and then sold large parts of their shareholdings in Valuno before the decision was made public on the afternoon of 4 July 2025.
When the information became public, the share price fell by around 33 percent. The market only learned of the rejection the day after it was made, after business paper Affärsvärlden had put questions to the company.
Chief prosecutor Thomas Langrot at Ekobrottsmyndigheten's financial markets chamber says the delay in disclosure was no accident. "The postponement of the rejection decision was deliberate on the part of the two defendants, so that they could carry out their share sales," he says.
Nordic Growth Market's disciplinary committee later ruled that Valuno should pay a fine of 200,000 Swedish kronor over the delayed disclosure of the rejection.
Langrot describes the evidence in the case as unusually strong. "This is not a circumstantial case, unlike many other insider cases — the evidence is direct and very strong," he says.
Valuno Group says in a stock exchange announcement that it has taken note of the information that charges have been brought against two people who previously held senior positions at the company. According to the announcement, the charges concern events in 2025 and are directed at the two defendants themselves. The company says it will not comment further on the ongoing legal process, beyond stating that Valuno will assist the process as needed.
Sources: Ekobrottsmyndigheten, Affärsvärlden, Valuno Group
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