Hong Kong Slaps $270K Fine on Credit Suisse

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined Credit Suisse Securities (Hong Kong) Limited, the local unit of Switzerland-headquartered investment bank, HKD 2.1 million (around $270,866) for regulatory breaches.

As announced on Monday, failure in the electronic trading system of the bank resulted in regulatory breaches.

The regulator detailed that the investment bank submitted 16,935 erroneous market-making quotes to the market on February 28 last year in less than 10 minutes. The erroneous quotes resulted in the Execution Execution Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Read this Term of 8,042 stock options trades.

“The incident was caused by a logic error in the symbol mapping program used by CSSHK, in its capacity as a stock options market maker, in generating market making quotes,” the SFC explained.

The regulator further detailed that the company’s existing internal controls failed to prevent the failures in its Trading Platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term.

“In deciding the sanction, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances, including the prompt remedial actions taken by CSSHK following the incident and CSSHK’s cooperation with the SFC in resolving the SFC’s concerns,” the announcement added.

Regulators Are Getting Strict

Ahead of this latest penalty, the SFC slapped a fine of $350 million on the Asian unit of Goldman Sachs for its involvement in Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal. Goldman faced a $2 billion fine in the United States and $2.5 billion in Malaysia for the same scandal.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong regulator remains vigilant of any breaches by the financial institutions and actively takes action against them.

Credit Suisse has a history of regulatory lapses and was fined multiple times in the United States.

In September, the US financial markets watchdog fined Credit Suisse $600,000 for failing to submit some mandatory trading information. In 2016, Credit Suisse consented to a cease and desist order, censure, and a penalty of $4,250,000 slapped by the financial regulator for similar lapses.