Information on market manipulation investigations

Reference Case Number: FOI11575

Freedom of Information: Right to know request:

1. How many full-time staff members have been specifically allocated to the investigation of market manipulation cases for each of the years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024? Please indicate any changes in the allocation of resources over this period.

2. Please provide a comprehensive list of all enforcement actions, including fines, penalties, and other disciplinary measures, taken by the FCA against financial institutions in relation to the use of instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, and any other similar platforms, from January 2021 to the present. For each action, please include the date, the financial institution involved, the specific violation cited, and the resulting penalty or action taken.

3. Please provide the annual budget figures allocated specifically to staff training programs focused on the identification and investigation of violations related to the use of instant messaging platforms by financial institutions. Break down the budget by training type, department, and year, from 2021 to the present.

4. Please provide the total number of market manipulation cases investigated by the FCA from January 2021 to the present, broken down by year. For each case, please include detailed information on the type of manipulation (such as spoofing, insider trading, etc.), the specific markets affected, the entities involved, and the outcomes of these investigations, including any enforcement actions taken.

5. What is the average duration of FCA investigations into market manipulation cases from 2021 to the present? Please provide the data broken down by year and include any insights on the factors contributing to changes in investigation timelines.

6. Please provide data on the number of cross-product market manipulation cases investigated by the FCA from 2021 to the present day. For each year, include details on the specific types of products involved (e.g., equities, derivatives, fixed income), the nature of the manipulation, and the outcomes of these investigations. Additionally, please indicate whether the FCA has observed an increase or change in the complexity of cross-product manipulation schemes during this period.

FCA response:

Question 1

We do not hold recorded information in response to this question as investigative staff are not allocated solely to specific case areas, such as market manipulation. Investigations are subject to prioritisation and staff are allocated accordingly.

Question 2

We have not taken enforcement action in relation to this specific issue in the period in question. Please note that issues such as this would generally form part of a wider investigation and so would not be investigated in isolation.

Question 3

We do not hold the information broken down to the level of detail you have requested. This is because training on this specific element is not provided as standalone but rather forms part of broader training programmes offered to staff.

Question 4

In this instance, we have taken market manipulation to mean those investigations identified as relating to market manipulation or misleading statements. We have also taken ‘cases’ to mean individual subjects of investigations, as opposed to operations (which may involve a number of underlying subjects).

We have not included instances relating to insider dealing as this is a separate offence (and falls under different legislation / article of MAR). Finally, we have also only included those investigations opened since January 2021. Of these investigations, 8 have closed, and 16 remain open.

Year	Investigations opened
2021	4
2022	6
2023	12
2024	2

Question 5

Duration is based on investigations opened since January 2021, and time between date of decision to investigate and either the closed date of the case, or 31 July 2024.

	Duration in months
Investigations closed in 2022	15 months
Investigations closed in 2024	32 months
Open investigations	15 months

We do not hold recorded information on ‘any insights on the factors contributing to changes in investigation timelines.’

Question 6

We have taken cross-product to mean whether the manipulation involved more than one type of asset. In this instance, of the investigations opened, five relate to cross product issues – all of which related to CFDs, spread betting and binaries.

Date of Release: 12/09/2024

Information on market manipulation investigations - September 2024