The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined a broker group 4,775,200 GBP, for breaches of the Market Abuse Regulation Article 16(2), which requires “Professional Persons Arranging or Executing Transactions” (PPAET) to “effectively monitor” for market abuse in the form of market manipulation and insider trading. The notice can be found here. The FCA found that the firm did not have adequate technology or procedures covering all relevant activity, as per the risk involved, from the start of MAR in July 2016 until 2018.

Market participants in energy and commodities usually hold PPAET status, regardless of whether they rely on exemptions and are therefore not financially authorised. This is the third fine levied by the FCA this year for inadequate monitoring under MAR (see here).