Societe Generale Securities Australia has been fined A$3.99 million by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for allegedly failing to prevent suspicious trading activity in the electricity and wheat futures markets on ASX 24.
According to ASIC, the financial services provider—one of the largest participants on ASX 24—breached market integrity rules by allowing two clients to place 33 suspicious orders between May 2023 and February 2024. These occurred during a period of heightened volatility in global commodity markets driven by supply constraints, including those linked to the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
ASIC said the trades raised concerns of attempted manipulation of daily settlement prices for electricity and wheat futures, which can have flow-on effects for supplier funding costs and ultimately consumer prices.
The regulator contacted Societe Generale on five separate occasions in 2023 regarding volatility and suspect orders, yet the group “failed to take timely and effective action”, ASIC noted. It said Societe Generale’s inaction was particularly concerning given it accounted for nearly 12% of traded volume across ASX 24 as of 30 June 2023.
“SocGen’s lack of response and inadequate remediation were made more significant because they are the second largest participant in the ASX 24 Market,” said ASIC chair Joe Longo.
A spokesperson for Societe Generale told The Australian the firm “has taken appropriate remedial actions to address the issues raised by ASIC.”
This is the fifth ASIC enforcement action in just over a year targeting manipulation in electricity and wheat derivatives. Macquarie Bank was fined nearly A$5 million in September 2024, while JP Morgan Securities Australia paid A$775,000 in May that year. Civil proceedings have also commenced against COFCO International and Delta Power & Energy.