Credit Suisse hit with $6.5m US fine for supervisory lapses

The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and major exchanges have fined Credit Suisse’s US-based securities business $6.5 million for supervisory failings, FINRA said late on Monday.

FINRA, the securities industry self-regulator, and the exchanges found that Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC did not establish a supervisory system reasonably designed to monitor for potential trading violations, such as spoofing and layering, for clients it had offered direct market access to numerous exchanges between 2010 and 2014.

The exchanges backing the fine are Cboe Global Markets, the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, the New York Stock Exchange, and their affiliated exchanges. “In addition, Credit Suisse violated numerous provisions of the market access rule, which requires broker-dealers that provide their customers access to an exchange or an alternative trading system to reasonably manage the financial and regulatory risks of providing such access,” FINRA said in a statement.

From 2011 to 2017, Credit Suisse violated the market access rule’s provisions related to the prevention of erroneous orders, the setting of credit limits and the firm’s annual review of the effectiveness of its market access controls and supervisory procedures, the statement said.

In settling the matter, Credit Suisse neither admitted nor denied the charges, the statement added.

Credit Suisse did not immediately reply to a request for comment.