Chilean regulator fines A&C SpA for market manipulation

The Chilean Financial Market Commission (CMF) has fined Asesorías e Inversiones A&C SpA approximately 25,000 UF (between 950 million and 1.024 billion Chilean pesos) for market manipulation. The sanction follows an investigation into the firm’s use of “spoofing” tactics on the Santiago Stock Exchange between March 2022 and September 2024.

According to the CMF, the firm executed over 34,000 fictitious orders intended to create false market signals. The strategy involved placing buy or sell orders with no intention of execution, aiming to induce other investors to adjust their prices. Once the market reacted, A&C would cancel the original order and execute a transaction in the opposite direction to profit from the artificial price movement. This scheme reportedly generated approximately 860 million pesos in benefits for the firm.

The manipulation involved various stocks, including Cencosud, SQM-B, Enel, Falabella, CMPC, Parque Arauco, Empresas Copec, Banco de Chile, and Latam Airlines.