Nasdaq OMX has fined Danske Bank and issued a warning to one of its traders, after the exchange’s surveillance tool noted an abnormal trading pattern.
According to the exchange’s rules, orders registered in the trading system must be genuine orders and members should not make orders that are intended to improperly influence price formation or devoid of commercial purpose. Nasdaq OMX’s disciplinary committee found that Danske Bank has breached these regulations and has been asked to pay SEK 500,000 (€54,949).
The trading surveillance function at NASDAQ OMX Stockholm noted Danske Bank had repeatedly placed orders pertaining to very large blocks of shares in Astra Zeneca (AZN), orders that were cancelled after a few seconds, while at the same time the bank had placed smaller orders on the opposite side of the order book.
“The smaller orders remained in place for longer periods of time and resulted in trades,” the exchange said in a statement. “On the whole, the trading pattern indicated that there was no intention that the orders registered would result in a trade, and that they had instead been designed during brief periods to send signals to other market participants of an increased supply of, or demand for, AZN shares.”
Danske Bank has said that the orders were genuine and intended to lead to trades, although it has assured the exchange that the trading pattern in question will cease.
Nasdaq OMX’s disciplinary Committee said it has imposed a low fine as it believes Danske Bank and the trader had not realised that the trading pattern applied may have been prohibited, and no previous warning has been issued.