Desjardins Securities Inc. (DSI) and one of its traders have been sanctioned over alleged deceptive trading in fixed-income futures, in a settlement with the Bourse de Montréal Inc. (MX).
The firm agreed to a $450,000 fine and to pay $38,100 in costs, while the trader, Antoine Morrissette-Boileau, was fined $50,000 and suspended for a month, after they admitted to violating the exchange’s rules.
Specifically, the MX alleged that Morrissette-Boileau engaged in 213 instances of “manipulative or deceptive” trades in certain bond futures back in 2017 and 2018.
The improper trading included the submission of “non-bona fide” orders that potentially misled other traders, who “may have been induced to buy or sell at a price not representative of actual supply and demand,” the settlement said.
According to the settlement, the improper trading created approximately $56,610 of economic benefit to the firm.
Additionally, the MX alleged that Desjardins didn’t have adequate systems in place to detect or prevent the manipulative trading.
Following a hearing, the disciplinary committee accepted a settlement that was negotiated between the staff of the exchange’s regulatory division, DSI and Morrissette-Boileau.