On Nov. 7, SEC fined ITG $12mn for misleading about dark pool.
- Charged ITG Inc. and its affiliate AlterNet for misleading dark pool subscribers.
- Did not protect trading information and sometimes used in an attempt to grow.
Alleged Violations
- Firm made misstatements and omissions, about operation of their pool, POSIT.
- ITG improperly disclosed confidential dark pool trade information, of its clients.
- From 2010-15, ITG sent daily top 100 reports, of previous day trading activity.
- ITG informed some of its high frequency trading firms, they could use top 100
reports to identify “potential unsatisfied liquidity needs”, within the dark pools. - Acted despite informing clients that their trade intention would not be signaled.
Splitting of Pool
- From 2010-14 ITG split pool into two, which stopped certain orders interacting.
- This prevented certain orders in the two pools from interacting with each other.
- ITG failed to disclose separation of pools, by different performance and fill rate.
- Or about their use of speedbump to slow interactions with high frequency firms.
despite subscribers questioning whether ITG tiered or segmented the dark pool.
Sanctions
- ITG and AlterNet to pay $12mn fine, following SEC Aug. 2015 fine.
