AFC Ajax: CEO Alex Kroes suspended by the club due to insider trading

AFC Ajax's (Eredivisie) supervisory board has suspended Alex Kroes, CEO and chairman of the board since 15/03/2024, on suspicion of insider trading, announced the club on 02/04/2024. The members of the board of directors will temporarily share his responsibilities with the support of Michael van Praag, chairman of the supervisory board.

Alex Kroes succeeded Jan van Halst, a non-executive director and member of Ajax's supervisory board, who was appointed interim CEO on 04/09/2023. The Dutch club had announced its intention to make Alex Kroes its new chief executive on 02/08/2023, before indicating the date of his arrival at the club on 05/09/2023.

The decision to suspend him was taken after the supervisory board learned that Alex Kroes had purchased 17,500 shares in Ajax - a club listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange (Euronext) - on 26/07/2023, eight days before the announcement of his future appointment. This transaction would constitute insider trading, as Alex Kroes would have taken advantage of the possession of privileged information to acquire shares for his own account to the…