FSA Decision notice: Swift Trade
August 31, 2011
The FSA has published a decision notice for Swift Trade Inc ("Swift Trade") indicating that it has decided to fine Swift Trade pound;8m for market abuse. In the decision notice dated 6 May 2011, the FSA set out its decision to fine Swift Trade, a non-FSA authorised Canadian company with global operations, for systematically and deliberately engaging in a form of manipulative trading known as "layering".
In the FSA's opinion, between 1 January 2007 and 4 January 2008, Swift Trade's manipulative trading caused a succession of small price movements in a wide range of individual shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) from which Swift Trade made substantial profits. It has not been possible to measure Swift Trade's profits precisely; however, they were in excess of pound;1.75m.
Swift Trade has referred the matter to the Upper Tribunal.