Merrill Lynch pays $60,000 in infringement notice penalty


Merrill Lynch (Australia) Futures (MLAF) has paid a penalty of $60,000 to comply with an infringement notice given to it by the Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP) which found that it had inappropriate limits in respect of number of pathways to the ASIC Market Integrity Rules (ASX 24 Market).
According to the MDP, the limits MLAF had between October, 2010 to June, 2016, were inappropriate because they were set at ASX 24 Market default levels.
ASX 24 Market required market participants to demonstrate prudent risk management procedures in relation to their futures trading, including to set and document appropriate order limits and maximum price change limits.
The MDP said that although it considered MLAF to fail to identify the inappropriateness of the limits over a period of six years, it noted that MLAF undertook a compliance review of its market limits on both its downstream terminals and upstream order systems in 2016 and took steps to remedy the issue once MLAF became aware of it.
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