Bank of Russia suggests expanding list of actions recognised as market manipulation
The regulator intends to recognise as market manipulation such deliberate actions that mislead investors and create artificial activity with exchange-listed assets. This draft ordinance was prepared by the Bank of Russia.
The regulator is talking about actions that significantly affect trading parameters or disrupt their natural market fluctuations. This can include both disseminating information about assets and companies and conducting transactions (e.g., when a person places buy or sell orders without an intention to fulfil them but rather to achieve a better price or other trading parameters of opposite-side orders (spoofing or layering)). Market manipulation may also include calls to perform such actions or their coordination.
Currently, activities recognised as manipulation are specified in the ‘anti-insider’ law. However, the evolution of modern information technologies and means of communication brings about new manipulation methods that are out of scope of such a list. The law allows the Bank of Russia to amend it. The proposed changes will make it possible for the regulator to anticipate, detect and prevent the most complex but at the same time already quite popular unfair manipulation practices (including with the use of websites, social networks, blogs, and messengers), and to take corresponding punitive measures.