Financial Conduct Authority fines Sigma Broking GBP 1.09m for widespread MiFIR transaction reporting failures

The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a final notice fining Sigma Broking Limited GBP 1,087,300 for failing to submit complete and accurate transaction reports over a five-year period, undermining the FCA’s ability to monitor and investigate potential market abuse. The FCA found breaches of Article 26 of the UK Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and Principle 3 of the FCA’s Principles for Businesses. The FCA’s monitoring systems flagged issues in May 2023. Sigma later told the FCA in January 2024 that around 984,000 incorrect reports had been submitted, and an independent review led the firm to confirm in February 2025 that 924,584 reports were incorrect, covering close to 100% of transactions handled between 1 December 2018 and 1 December 2023. The failures stemmed from incorrect system set-up and persisted due to weaknesses in the firm’s reporting processes. Sigma received a 30% early settlement discount, with the penalty otherwise being GBP 1,553,300. This is the FCA’s second enforcement action against Sigma for inadequate transaction reporting, following an October 2022 fine of GBP 531,600 relating to failures to report 56,000 transactions and to identify 97 suspicious trades, alongside sanctions against three directors. The FCA noted the case took 16 months from opening in April 2024 to reaching a public outcome, compared with an average of 42 months for cases closed in 2023/24.