Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the US Department of Justice’s fine of $35 million on NatWest Markets Plc for “spoofing” on 21 December 2021, what plans they have to investigate the prevalence of similar practices in the UK.

‘Spoofing’ is the practice of placing orders in financial markets with the intention of cancelling said orders and attempting to profit from any resulting price changes. It is prohibited under the UK Market Abuse Regulation, as it gives false or misleading signals as to the supply or demand of a financial instrument.

In the UK, the FCA is responsible for identifying and preventing market abuse, and taking enforcement action against persons committing market abuse where appropriate. The FCA actively monitors UK markets for potential market manipulation, and any investigation into that activity would be conducted by the regulator. UK trading venues and persons professionally arranging or executing transactions who are located in the UK are required to have arrangements in place to monitor, detect, and report such market manipulation to the FCA.