Market Abuse
Behaviour in financial markets — such as insider dealing, unlawful disclosure of inside information, or market manipulation — that harms market integrity and is prohibited under the UK Market Abuse Regulation.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Market abuse is the umbrella term for insider dealing, the unlawful disclosure of inside information, and market manipulation. The retained UK version of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 — the Market Abuse Regulation, or 'UK MAR' — states that it 'establishes a regulatory framework on insider dealing, the unlawful disclosure of inside information and market manipulation (market abuse) as well as measures to prevent market abuse to ensure the integrity of financial markets' in the United Kingdom and to enhance investor protection and confidence in those markets.
Market manipulation itself is defined broadly. Under Article 12 of UK MAR, 'for the purposes of this Regulation, market manipulation shall comprise' several categories of activity, including entering into a transaction or order that 'gives, or is likely to give, false or misleading signals as to the supply of, demand for, or price of, a financial instrument', or disseminating false or misleading information likely to have the same effect. The UK regime combines this civil regime under MAR with a criminal regime for insider dealing and other market abuse offences.
Related terms
Official sources
This explanation is drawn from the official sources below; every substantive statement is verified against them. For advice on a specific matter, see our find help page.