Barclays said it would comply with the ban but that the violation was the result of a technical error, not deliberate short-selling.
In short-selling, traders bet against a stock’s rise and make money if the stock goes down in price. Regulators around the world have tried to regulate short-selling, saying it destabilizes financial markets.
Saddled with a stock market that has underperformed for years, Japanese regulators have been particularly wary of any destabilizing trades in equities.
On Friday, the Nikkei stock average closed flat at 8,700.29, ending three months in which stocks tumbled 11.4 percent.
In a statement, Japan’s Financial Services Agency said that Barclays Capital Japan had failed to properly code short-selling maneuvers on the Osaka Securities Exchange during an 18-month period that started in February 2010.
The agency will suspend equity trades between Barclays Capital Japan and Barclays’ other affiliated companies. The ban runs for 10 business days, ending Oct. 24.
Barclays Capital said the trades had not been coded properly because of a technical malfunction. The firm had suspended transactions on the system that had caused the error, it said in a statement.
“An internal review concluded that there was no deliberate intention to manipulate the market and derive a benefit,” Barclays said.
The agency ordered Barclays Capital to submit a report by Oct. 12 offering more details of the breach, including those responsible for the transactions, and outlining measures to prevent similar errors.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=784e80d043ba030530a5dfaf72781947