The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Dinosaur Merchant Bank Limited (DMBL) £338,000 for failing to put in place effective systems and controls to detect and report suspicious trading in its contracts for difference (CFD) business.

Given the high-risk nature of CFDs, firms must have strong and reliable surveillance arrangements to prevent insider dealing and market manipulation.

In June 2024, DMBL introduced a new order system that led to a sharp increase in CFD trading by its clients. Between June and October 2024, trades with a corresponding asset value of approximately $3.05 billion were executed via the platform. However, these orders and trades were not captured and reviewed by the automated surveillance system which meant that potential market abuse could have gone undetected.

Although DMBL identified this issue in October 2024, the firm failed to properly address the deficiencies until May 2025. The delay limited the firm’s ability to identify and report potentially suspicious trading.

DMBL fully cooperated with the FCA investigation and qualified for a 30% discount. Without this discount, the fine would have been £482,900. The firm stopped selling CFDs in May 2025.