This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/tokyo-trader-makes-spectacular-381bn-fat-finger-error-9767506.html

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Tokyo trader has £381bn share orders cancelled after spectacular 'fat finger' error Tokyo trader has £381bn share orders cancelled after spectacular 'fat finger' error
(about 9 hours later)
A staggering "fat finger" error caused share orders worth more than the size of Sweden's entire economy to be cancelled in early trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Share trades worth more than the size of Sweden’s economy had to be cancelled in Tokyo after what is believed to be the biggest “fat finger” error on record.
It is thought to be the most extreme example of a trader in financial markets inputting hopelessly wrong figures while working under intense pressure. The identity of the trader is not yet known.It is thought to be the most extreme example of a trader in financial markets inputting hopelessly wrong figures while working under intense pressure. The identity of the trader is not yet known.
Orders for shares in 42 major Japanese companies, including household names such as Toyota, Honda, Canon and Sony, totalling 67.78 trillion yen (£381 billion), were overturned, according to the Japan Securities Dealers Association. Mistaken orders for shares in 42 major Japanese companies, including household names such as Toyota, Honda, Canon and Sony, totalling ¥67.78trn (£381bn) were overturned, according to data from the Japan Securities Dealers Association.
The biggest single order was for 1.96 billion shares in Toyota, the world’s biggest car maker, worth 12.68 trillion yen (£71.4 billion). The biggest single order was for 1.96 billion shares of Toyota, the world’s biggest car maker, worth ¥12.68trn.
Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, told the Bloomberg financial news service: “I’ve never heard of orders this big being cancelled before.” Ayako Sera, a Tokyo-based market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, told Bloomberg: “I’ve never heard of orders this big being cancelled before, There must have been an error.”
Gavin Parry, managing director at Hong Kong-based brokerage Parry International Trading, said: “It’s not rocket science that there was a fat finger here, but it reopens the questions about accountability.” Another expert, Gavin Parry, the managing director at the Hong Kong-based brokerage Parry International Trading, added: “It’s not rocket science that there was a fat finger here, but it reopens the question about accountability.”
However, because the mistaken order was a cancellation rather than a sale or purchase, the financial fall-out is expected to be limited. However, because the mistaken order was a cancellation rather that a sale or purchase of shares, the financial fall-out is expected to be limited.
So-called “fat finger” trading mistakes are not uncommon. So called “fat finger” trading mistakes are not uncommon in the world’s vast and fast moving financial markets. In 2009, Swiss bank UBS mistakenly ordered ¥3trn of bonds in Japanese video games giant Capcom when it had only intended to buy ¥30m yen’s worth.
In 2009, Swiss bank UBS mistakenly ordered 3 trillion yen — instead of 30 million yen — of bonds in Japanese video games giant Capcom. In 2005 a Japanese trader tried to sell one share of an employment recruitment company called J:COM, at a price of ¥610,000 per share.
In 2005 a Japanese trader tried to sell one share of a recruitment company called J-Com at 610,000 yen per share. But he accidentally sold 610,000 shares at one yen each, despite this being 41 times the number of shares available. However, he accidentally sold 610,000 shares at one yen each, despite this being 41 times the number of J:COM’s available shares.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange processed the order, resulting in Mizuho Securities losing 27 billion yen. The head of the Exchange later resigned. At the time, the Tokyo Stock Exchange processed the order, resulting in his employer, Mizuho Securities, losing ¥27bn. The head of the Exchange later resigned.
Closer to home, a City trader is believed to have lost up to £400,000 in 30 seconds by accidentally buying HSBC shares in January.
The trade resulted in the share price of Britain’s largest bank rising more than 10 per cent and led to the suspension of its shares for five minutes.
Shares in HSBC soared from 630p to 688p in a matter of minute before closing at 630.2p.
At the time, one trader told Reuters: “There are various scenarios on what could have gone wrong. But the good thing is people shouldn’t do it… getting penalised for doing it means they won’t do it again.”