Russian traders are trying to repeat the tactics of newcomers from the Reddit forum and overclock the stock prices with social networks. A group of such players recently found a central bank.
On March 9, the regulator published the prescriptions of seven largest brokers to suspend stock transactions to their individual customers to prevent market manipulation. They were received by Sberbank, Tinkoff, VTB, BCS, "Opening Broker", Alfa-Bank and Athon.
Restrictions will touch 39 Tinkoff customers, his representative told. Broker will suspend the execution of their trade orders and hold a detailed analysis of the situation. The issuance of the prescription is the standard tool of the Bank of Russia to prevent the market manipulation, reminded the representative of Tinkoff, but the reasons for his issuance should be spent correctly from the Central Bank, he noted.
"The prescription touched only one client, which tried to participate in the growth of the shares of the power grid company. But while he filed a purchase order, the paper began to be cheaper. As a result, the client only lost, because after buying paper they continued to fall in price, "says an employee of another broker.
Sberbank does not disclose information about the operations committed by its clients, his representative said. The representative of the "Opening of the Broker" confirmed that the company received the prescription of the Central Bank: "We will block customers and look at the situation in our place in and provide the necessary information to the bank of Russia," but they refused other comments. Also received representatives of VTB and Alfa Bank. Other brokers have not yet responded to Vtimes requests.
What happenedAt about 16.00 on Friday, the Central Bank noted the anomalous pricing of the shares of Rosseti South (earlier "IDGC of the South"), which lasted about half an hour, said the director of the Department of Countering the unscrupulous practices Valery Lyakh. Several telegrams of channels were the source of non-market transactions, where the traders called on to overclock the cost of these shares. As it turned out, the participants of these channels planned coordinated transactions in advance, and at 16.00 a specific paper was published in chat rooms, the value of which was also trying to artificially increase. The idea was to wait for the cost of stock costs and then sell paper of those beginners who will attract the growth of quotes, explains Lyakh.
To prevent the quotations distortion, the Central Bank has decided to block more than 60 accounts of the participants in these channels - those who at the moment began to carry out transactions with these promotions or bought them in advance to then sell. But participants in these channels were much more - from 500 to several thousand people, reported Lyakh.
However, the cost of shares did not succeed significantly. The liquidity of Rosseti South shares on Friday increased several times compared with usual, but quotes in the moment grew less than 10%, said Lyakh. According to the Moscow Exchange, on Friday with these papers, a little over 2000 transactions were concluded by 15.2 million rubles, although 400-600 transactions took place on the day a day, and their volume did not exceed 1.6 million rubles.
Now the Central Bank has to be studied, is it possible to consider this situation to manipulate the market. In the near future, the components of brokers will have to analyze information about these clients and send it to the Central Bank to clarify all the circumstances, said Lyakh. Until that time, their accounts will be blocked. If the Central Bank establishes the market manipulation, it may apply for the blocking of telegrams-channels, added. But the task of the regulator is to prevent non-market pricing, and not fight with social networks, where investors are communicating, he stressed.
Russian GameStop?In January, the American stock market shook the story about how lovers' traders from the WallStreetBets Forum in the Reddit social network began to accelerate the cost of shares of small companies (Gamestop, American Airlines, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc.). Calls are massively buying shares were calculated that the hedge funds occupying for these securities will be forced to close them, thereby pile of prices even higher. The Securities Commission and the US Department of Justice began to check the rise of these papers on the market for manipulating the market, reported The Wall Street Journal.
The Russian Central Bank drew attention to this situation. His chairman Elvira Nabiullina reported in February that the regulator would study the situation related to the speculation in the US market of investors from the Reddit forum to analyze possible changes in the regulation of the stock market. "We, of course, saw what power retail investors could demonstrate, who combine the overall idea and can be quickly self-organizing with the help of social networks," admitted Nabiullin. But the entry into a number of instruments can lead to losses, she reminded.
However, according to Lyach, the history of the papers of Rosseti South can only be called Russian Reddit. Nevertheless, the main goal of American traders was to earn on hedge funds, in the same case investors united for the sake of manipulating the market, he believes. But this is indeed the first similar scheme with the use of social networks, which the Central Bank revealed and from which he tried to protect investors, recognized Lyakh. But in the West, such Pump & Dump schemes with artificial acceleration prices are used for a long time, he added.