AMF fines 3 Bloomberg corporations $4 million

The Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal (FMAT) has approved a settlement agreement between the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), and Bloomberg Trading Facility Ltd. (BTFL), Bloomberg Trading Facility B.V. (BV) and Bloomberg SEF LLC (BSEF).

The decision involves an administrative penalty of $4 million against the companies, which will be jointly paid, and follows a review conducted by the AMF into BTFL and BV.

The two foreign corporations, which operate multilateral trading facilities, were found to have been carrying on business as an exchange in Quebec without being recognized as an exchange by the AMF, a release said.

The regulator’s review “also revealed that BTFL and BV had filed applications for exemptions from recognition as an exchange with the AMF that contained inaccurate and incomplete information,” the release said, noting that inaccuracies about the corporations’ fixed-income securities and derivatives trading activity in Quebec were a factor.

When it came to BSEF, a foreign corporation operating a swap execution facility, the same review highlighted inaccuracies related to derivatives trading in that company’s quarterly reports.

As such, that corporation “failed to comply with the conditions set out in the October 2, 2013 and October 23, 2017 decisions by the AMF granting it an exemption from recognition as an exchange,” the release said.

All three entities admitted to the facts and breaches as part of the agreement with the regulator, and the penalty reflects their cooperation and efforts to rectify compliance, it said.

“In particular, they acknowledged that an exchange carries on activities in Quebec if it provides Quebec participants with direct access to the exchange,” including having a legal address in the province as well as all traders conducting business on behalf of the exchange, the release said.

The FMAT, in its translated decision, noted that a domestic or foreign exchange’s regulatory compliance “is central to protecting Quebec investors and maintaining the integrity of Quebec as a financial centre.”

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