Japan Watchdog Recommends Penalty for Nomura Securities Over Market Manipulation — Update

By Ronnie Harui

Japan's securities regulator has recommended an administrative monetary penalty for Nomura Securities over market manipulation in Japanese government bond futures.

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission said in a statement on Wednesday that it made the recommendation based on the findings of an investigation that identified violation of laws and ordinances.

"Nomura, through its trader during the course of his duties, engaged in manipulative trading typically known as 'layering' in 10-year Japanese government bond futures in March 2021 listed on the Osaka Exchange for the purpose of inducing others to buy or sell JGB futures," the SESC said.

"This constituted a series of derivative transactions that would potentially mislead others into believing that derivative transactions are thriving and cause fluctuations in prices of the financial instrument," the securities watchdog said.

Pursuant to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the SESC said the applicable penalty totals 21,760,000 yen, equivalent to about $152,000.

In a statement, Nomura Securities said it takes the matter very seriously and apologized to its clients and all concerned parties.

"We have been working to revise our JGB futures trading operations since these transactions occurred," it said. "We will continue to further enhance our compliance framework and internal controls to prevent similar incidents occurring in the future and to regain trust."

Nomura Securities is a subsidiary of Nomura Holdings.

Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2024 05:24 ET (09:24 GMT)

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