Societe Generale Securities Australia Pty Limited has been fined $3.88 million by the ASX 24 Market’s disciplinary body after failing to stop two clients placing dozens of suspicious orders in electricity and wheat futures.
The Market Disciplinary Panel (MDP) penalty follows an ASIC investigation that found SocGen allowed 33 orders between May 2023 and February 2024 that displayed characteristics of attempts to “mark the close” — late trading designed to influence the daily settlement price. ASIC said the activity occurred during a volatile period for global energy and wheat markets amid supply disruptions, including the Russia–Ukraine war.
ASIC Chair Joe Longo said, ‘This is about integrity and confidence in our markets that can have real world impacts on electricity and wheat prices.
‘ASIC contacted SocGen on five occasions in 2023 to serve notices, ask questions or raise concerns about volatility in futures markets and suspicious orders placed by its clients.
‘Despite ASIC’s contact, SocGen failed to take timely and effective action, and permitted additional, suspicious orders to enter the market.
‘SocGen’s lack of response and inadequate remediation were made more significant because they are the second largest participant in the ASX 24 Market.’
The MDP found the firm should have suspected all 33 orders were intended to create a false or misleading market appearance and said SocGen was reckless in failing to prevent further orders after repeated regulatory warnings. It also highlighted shortcomings in the firm’s compliance and surveillance operations, citing inadequate training, expertise and oversight to monitor ASX 24 electricity and wheat futures.
In its decision, the panel stressed that market participants are responsible for orders placed by clients, including those entered via direct market access.
‘Market gatekeepers have a duty to keep our markets safe. They have direct visibility over client trading and can prevent orders from being placed on the market.
‘Missing suspicious orders puts the entire system at risk.
‘Companies like SocGen must have appropriate preventative and detective tools and controls, including people with the right expertise as well as surveillance software, to ensure compliance,’ Mr Longo said.
As at 30 June 2023, SocGen was the second-largest participant on the ASX 24 Market, accounting for 11.8% of traded volume. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Societe Generale S.A., which at the end of December 2023 ranked as the world’s 19th largest bank by assets.
The action is ASIC’s fifth in 15 months related to alleged manipulation in ASX 24 electricity and wheat futures. Recent cases include a record $4.995 million MDP fine against Macquarie Bank in September 2024 for gatekeeper failures in electricity futures; civil penalty proceedings commenced in July 2024 against COFCO entities over alleged wheat futures manipulation; and a $775,000 MDP fine against J.P. Morgan Securities Australia in May 2024 for gatekeeper failures in wheat futures. In June 2025, ASIC also launched civil proceedings against Delta Power & Energy (Vales Point) Pty Ltd over alleged manipulation of electricity futures and a financial benchmark.
SocGen did not contest the alleged breaches of Rule 3.1.2(1)(b)(iii) of the ASIC Market Integrity Rules (Futures Markets) 2017. The firm has paid the penalty. ASIC noted that compliance with an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt or liability, and does not amount to a contravention of subsection 798H(1) of the Corporations Act 2001.
The infringement notice is published on ASIC’s MDP Outcomes Register.
