Japan Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommends surcharge order against SigmaGo for manipulation of ANYCOLOR and four other stocks

The Japan Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) recommended that the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of the Financial Services Agency issue a surcharge payment order against Sigmago Co Limited (SigmaGo) following an inspection into suspected market manipulation involving ANYCOLOR Co., Ltd. shares and four other listed stocks. The recommended total surcharge amount is JPY 1,470,000. SESC found that SigmaGo, a Hong Kong-registered proprietary trading firm, used traders and multiple overseas securities firms to place layered buy and sell orders and execute trades designed to create a misleading appearance of active trading and to influence prices over short periods from 13 to 16 February Reiwa 5. The conduct covered ANYCOLOR (Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market), Asahi Intec (Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market and Nagoya Stock Exchange Prime Market), and Gifty, Lax and Renova (Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market), and was assessed as falling under Article 159, paragraph 2, item 1 and Article 174-2, paragraph 1 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. The recommendation to issue a surcharge payment order was made under Article 20, paragraph 1 of the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Agency. In establishing the facts, SESC referenced information from the Japan Exchange Self-Regulatory Corporation and received support from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority.