buying or selling of a financial instrument, a related spot commodity contract, or an auctioned product based on emission allowances, deliberately, at the reference time of the trading session (e.g. opening, closing, settlement) in an effort to increase, to decrease or to maintain the reference price (e.g. opening price, closing price, settlement price) at a specific level. Marking the close may also be illustrated by the following additional indicators of market manipulation:
entering orders representing significant volumes in the central order book of the trading system a few minutes before the price determination phase of the auction and cancelling these orders a few seconds before the order book is frozen for computing the auction price so that the theoretical opening price might look higher/lower than it otherwise would do;
transactions or orders to trade which have the effect, or are likely to have the effect, of increasing or decreasing or maintaining the price during the days preceding the issue, optional redemption or expiry of a related derivative or convertible;
transactions or orders to trade which have the effect of, or are likely to have the effect of, maintaining the price of an underlying financial instrument, related spot commodity contract, or an auctioned product based on emission allowances, below or above a strike price or other element used to determine the pay-out (e.g. barrier) of a related derivative at expiration date;
transactions on any trading venue which have the effect of, or are likely to have the effect of, modifying the price of the underlying financial instrument, related spot commodity contract, or an auctioned product based on emission allowances, so that it surpasses or does not reach the strike price or other element used to determine the pay-out (e.g. barrier) of a related derivative at expiration date;
transactions which have the effect of, or are likely to have the effect of, modifying the settlement price of a financial instrument, related spot commodity contract, or an auctioned product based on emission allowances, when this price is used as a reference or determinant namely in the calculation of margin requirements;
transactions carried out or submission of orders to trade, namely near to a reference point during the trading day, which, because of their size in relation to the market, shall clearly have a significant impact on the supply of or demand for or the price or value;
transactions or orders to trade with no other apparent justification than to increase/decrease the price or to increase the volume of trading, namely near to a reference point during the trading day — e.g. at the opening or near the close;
Effective implementation of surveillance alerts for marking the close requires capturing the following trade data:
trade data
market volume data
price
Surveillance alerts may also consider risk exposure from derivative books in order to better target significant price levels where risks related to creation of a floor or ceiling may be higher.
Buying or selling of a financial instrument, a related spot commodity contract, or an auctioned product based on emission allowances, deliberately, at the reference time of the trading session (e.g. opening, closing, settlement) in an effort to increase, to decrease or to maintain the reference price (e.g. opening price, closing price, settlement price) at a specific level — usually known as ‘marking the close’. This practice may also be illustrated by the following additional indicators of market manipulation:
(i)entering orders representing significant volumes in the central order book of the trading system a few minutes before the price determination phase of the auction and cancelling these orders a few seconds before the order book is frozen for computing the auction price so that the theoretical opening price might look higher/lower than it otherwise would do;
(ii) the indicators set out in Point 1(b)(i), (b)(iii), (b)(iv) and (b)(v) of this Section;
(iii) transactions carried out or submission of orders to trade, namely near to a reference point during the trading day, which, because of their size in relation to the market, shall clearly have a significant impact on the supply of or demand for or the price or value; (iv) transactions or orders to trade with no other apparent justification than to increase/decrease the price or to increase the volume of trading, namely near to a reference point during the trading day — e.g. at the opening or near the close;
COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) 2016/522, Annex II, Section I, 5 (d)