Bond trader fined £60,000 by FCA for market abuse

The Financial Conduct Authority has slapped former Bank of America-Merrill Lynch bond trader Paul Walter with a £60,000 penalty for engaging in market manipulation.

An investigation from the FCA found that Walter had created a false and misleading impression with regard to Dutch State Loans on 12 separate occasions during the summer of 2014.

In the majority of those instances, he initiated a buy on the DSLs on online trading sites in order to give the appearance of purchasing the asset before quickly selling to other bidders based on their algorithms.

Walter made a £22,000 profit off the abusive trading, and while the FCA accepted that he may not have been aware of the extent of the manipulation, he was negligent in not addressing it.

Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight for the FCA said: "Market manipulation undermines market integrity and confidence. The FCA will be vigilant in detecting abusive practices and will take robust action to protect issuers and participants from all over the world from the harm caused by such abuse."