Business
Evidence Of Market Manipulation In Burford Shares
Evidence Of Market Manipulation In Burford Shares.
About this update from Burford Capital Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 6828I Burford Capital Limited 12 August 2019 \n\n12 August 2019\n \nANALYSIS IDENTIFIES EVIDENCE CONSISTENT WITH\nILLEGAL MARKET MANIPULATION IN BURFORD SHARES\n \nBurford Capital Limited (\"Burford Capital\" or \"Burford\" or \"the Company\"), the leading global finance and investment management firm focused on law, announces the preliminary findings of its analysis of the trading of its shares last week. We believe that trading shows evidence consistent with illegal market manipulation.\n \nWhile Burford continues to analyse the data, it has made regulatory authorities and criminal prosecutors aware of these preliminary conclusions and Burford is considering its own options. Burford has retained the law firms of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Morrison & Foerster LLP in connection with these matters.\n \nA forensic examination by Burford and its expert1 of the detailed trading data made generally available by the London Stock Exchange for 6 August (the day on which Muddy Waters tweeted about a forthcoming - but unidentified - short target) and 7 August (the day on which Muddy Waters released its short attack on Burford) discloses trading activity consistent with material illegal activity.\n \nSpoofing and layering\n \n Background\n \nSpoofing is the placement of a high volume of trading orders at a price equal to or better (i.e., lower) than the best-bid-best-offer price and subsequently cancelling these orders to move the price in a given direction without actually concluding any trades. For example, consider a stock where the current best offer is £9.99 per share. A spoofer might place a high volume of sell orders at £9.98, causing the best offer to decline to £9.98, immediately cancel those sell orders before they can execute, and then place a high volume of new sell orders at £9.97. The strategy of repeatedly placing and cancelling sell orders at or below the best offer without actually selling any shares artificially drives down the share price. \n \nLayering is similar to spoofing, except that instead of placing and cancelling a high volume of orders at the best offer price, the ma...