Trader was able to record more than 400 fictitious trades over a period of 20 months, says watchdog

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Macquarie Bank’s London branch has been fined £13m by the UK’s financial watchdog for “serious failings” that allowed one of its junior traders to record more than 400 fictitious trades over a period of 20 months.

The Financial Conduct Authority said that Travis Klein, a trader based on the Australian investment bank’s London metals and bulks trading desk from August 2017, had concealed the fictitious trades in a bid to hide his trading losses between June 2020 and February 2022.