US banking giant Citigroup has been fined £61.6 million ($72.3 million) by UK financial regulators for a miscalculation by a trader.
The fine was imposed following an erroneous sell order placed by a company trader, which resulted in a temporary crash on European stock markets. Dubbed a “fat finger” error, the miscalculation led to a brief crash on 2 May 2022, momentarily obliterating €300 billion in market value.
It was later found out that a London-based Citigroup trader was responsible. Aspiring to introduce a trade involving $58 million worth of shares, the trader made a typographical error that inflated the amount to a staggering $444 billion. While part of the sell order was intercepted, $1.4 billion worth of shares had already been sold.
The UK regulators have attributed the mishap to flaws within Citigroup’s trading platform. They emphasise that institutions must have robust systems and controls to prevent such errors from happening.
