FIG Top 5 At 5 - 07/03/2024

1. Central Bank of Ireland fines entity for breaches of its obligations under Market Abuse Regulations

On 28 February 2024, the Central Bank of Ireland ("Central Bank") fined an investment firm ("Firm") €1,225,000 pursuant to the Market Abuse Regulations ("MAR") for a breach of its obligations under Article 16(2) of MAR which requires firms that professionally arrange transactions to "establish and maintain effective arrangements, systems and procedures1 to detect and report suspicious orders and transactions". The breaches were identified by the Central Bank during the course of its supervisory MAR Thematic Review in 2020.

The Central Bank investigation found that the Firm failed to put into place an effective trade surveillance framework to monitor, detect and report suspicious orders and transactions regarding market abuse between July 2016 to January 2022. The Firm admitted to the breach, reducing the €1,750,000 fine by 30%.