Credit Suisse fined over missing transaction reports
by Gill Montia
Story link: Credit Suisse fined over missing transaction reports
Credit Suisse has been hit with a £1.75 million fine from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to provide accurate and timely transaction reports.
The reports are used by the regulator to detect and investigate suspected market abuse, such as insider trading.
Getco Europe Limited (a market maker trading on electronic markets) and Instinet Europe Limited (an agency broker) have received fines of £1.4 million and £1.05 million respectively for the same failure.
According to the FSA, firms are required to submit accurate data for reportable transactions by close of business the day after a trade is executed and all three firms were found to have committed multiple breaches of the rules.
In the case of Instinet, the broker did not even have adequate systems and controls in place to meet the transaction reporting requirements.
The breaches could easily have been prevented but despite repeated reminders from the FSA during the course of 2007 and 2008, none of the firms made the necessary corrections.
The FSA’s director of markets, Alexander Justham, says: “Without quality data we cannot properly detect and investigate market abuse, identify market wide risks or have a comprehensive understanding of the activities of each firm.”
Last year, Barclays was handed down a £2.45 million fine for the same offence.
