Credit Suisse has become the latest institution to confirm it’s responding to inquiries in connection with the operation of its “alternative trading systems,” known as dark pools, FastFT reports.
The FT reported earlier this week that the Swiss lender, alongside UBS and Deutsche Bank, had been drawn into the deepening probe of banks’ anonymous dark pool trading venues, with all three receiving subpoenas from authorities demanding details of their operations.
Dark pools – which allow investors to trade large blocks of shares anonymously, without moving the market price against them – have come under fire this year from regulators and lawmakers, who allege that they allow high-frequency traders to gain unfair advantages and trade ahead of other clients.
Barclays, the UK bank, has already been sued by Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney-general, over the operation of its own dark pool, LX.
Here’s Credit Suisse’s disclosure on Thursday in its financial report (which it now releases a few days after its earnings):
Alternative trading systems
“Credit Suisse is responding to inquiries from various governmental and regulatory authorities concerning the operation of its alternative trading systems, and is cooperating with those requests.
“Credit Suisse Group AG is also among more than thirty defendants named in putative class action complaints filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York since April 2014, alleging violations of US securities laws related to high frequency trading.”
