The financial space, already wilting under the impact of a speech made by Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo on revised stress test results proposals, is in for more negativity.
The SEC said in a release earlier today Bank of America Corp's (NYSE: BAC) Merrill Lynch unit has agreed to pay a $12.5 million fine for its failure to prevent erroneous orders from being sent to the markets. The act of commission, according to the securities watchdog, is due to Merrill Lynch maintaining ineffective trading controls and has occurred at least 15 times in the period between 2012 and the mid-2014.
Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?
New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.
ENTER TO WIN $500 IN STOCK OR CRYPTO
Enter your email and you'll also get Benzinga's ultimate morning update AND a free $30 gift card and more!
Giving an example of the act, the SEC noted that Merrill Lynch had applied a limit of 5 million shares per order, while the stock traded only around 79,000 shares per day. The SEC also noted that the erroneous orders led to a sharp plunge in a stock and a sudden recovery immediately after. Stocks, which experienced flash-crashes, include Anadarko Petroleum Corporation(NYSE: APC) on May 17, 2013, when it plummeted 99 percent, and the erstwhile Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), which lost 3 percent of its value in less than a second on April 22, 2013.
"Mini-flash crashes, such as those caused by Merrill Lynch, can undermine investor confidence in the markets," said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. "It is essential that broker-dealers with market access have reasonable controls to prevent erroneous orders that disrupt trading."
At time of writing, Bank of America was down 2.93 percent at $15.06.
Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?
New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.