The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Asia Research and Capital Management (ARCM) £873,118 over transparency failures.
The company is accused of having failed to notify the City watchdog and disclose to the public its net short position in Premier Oil built between February 2017 and July 2019. From 24 February 2017 to 5 July 2019, ARCM failed to make 155 notifications to the FCA and 153 disclosures to the public of its net short position in Premier Oil.
The Short Selling Regulation 2012 (SSR) sets out thresholds for when a firm is required to notify the regulator and disclose to the public details of net short positions held.
“Failure to report disclosable short positions undermines the integrity and efficiency of financial markets,” said Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight. “ARCM repeatedly breached reporting rules and failed to provide important information to us and to the market. This fine reflects the seriousness of these breaches.”
ARCM agreed to resolve this matter and qualified for a 30% discount under the FCA’s executive settlement procedures. Were it not for this discount, the FCA would have imposed a financial penalty of £1,247,312 on ARCM.
This is the first time the FCA has taken enforcement action for a breach of the SSR.
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
