FCA fines and prohibits hedge fund Chief Investment Officer for market abuse

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Corrado Abbattista, formerly a portfolio manager, partner and Chief Investment Officer at Fenician Capital Management LLP, £100,000 for market abuse and prohibited him from performing any functions in relation to regulated activity.
Following an investigation, the FCA found that Mr Abbattista, an experienced trader, engaged in market abuse by creating a false and misleading impression as to the supply and demand for equities between 20 January and 15 May 2017.

Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, said:

‘Market manipulation is corrosive of market integrity, undermining clean, efficient and fair markets. The FCA has increased its capability to detect and take robust action against the harm to shareholder value caused by such abuse.’

On multiple occasions, Mr Abbattista placed large misleading orders for Contracts for Difference (CFDs), referenced to equities, which he did not intend to execute. At the same time, he placed smaller orders that he did intend to execute on the opposite side of the order book to the misleading orders. Through his large misleading orders, Mr Abbattista falsely represented to the market an intention to buy/sell when his true intention was the opposite.

Mr Abbattista was aware of the risk that his actions might constitute market manipulation, but recklessly went ahead with those actions anyway.

The trading undertaken by Mr Abbattista was identified by the FCA’s internal surveillance systems. The FCA ingests order book data from the leading UK equity trading venues and then runs surveillance algorithms, designed to identify potentially abusive behaviours, across that consolidated data set.

Mr Abbattista referred this matter to the Upper Tribunal, but his reference was withdrawn on 10 November 2020.

The FCA considers that the fine and the prohibition imposed reflect the serious nature of the breach set out in the Final Notice and should act as a deterrent to other market participants.