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Norwegian traders convicted for outsmarting US stock broker algorithm

Andy Nguyen

Andy Nguyen

Joined
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Many members here know Interactive Brokers through their Trading Olympiads which was suspended 2 years ago. Timber Hill is a unit of IB. In the following article, two Norwegian traders are convicted of "learning how the trading system at Timber Hill worked, and outsmarted them to make money".

Norwegian traders convicted for outsmarting US stock broker algorithm - ComputerworldUK.com

In yesterday's conviction of the Norweigan traders, the prosecution said the pair had given "false and misleading signals about supply, demand and prices" when they manipulated several Norwegian stocks through Timber Hill’s online trading platform.

Anders Brosveet, the lawyer for Veiby, admitted that his client had learnt how the Timber Hill trading algorithm would behave in response to certain trades. However, he denied this amounted to "market manipulation".

Brosveet told the Financial Times, “They had an idea of how the computer would change the prices but that does not make them responsible for what the computer did.”

Both men are considering appeals against their convictions and fines. Veiby, who made the most trades, was sentenced to 120 days in prison, which was suspended for two years. He was fined the Norwegian equivalent of around £18,000.

Larsen received a 90-day suspended sentence, along with a fine of around £11,500. The fines in both cases were about the same as the profits made as a result of the illegal trades.

Despite their convictions, online message boards in Norway have praised the mens' skill in "outwitting the machines".
 
Both men are considering appeals against their convictions and fines. Veiby, who made the most trades, was sentenced to 120 days in prison, which was suspended for two years. He was fined the Norwegian equivalent of around £18,000.

Larsen received a 90-day suspended sentence, along with a fine of around £11,500. The fines in both cases were about the same as the profits made as a result of the illegal trades.
 
Andy Nguyen said:
Both men are considering appeals against their convictions and fines. Veiby, who made the most trades, was sentenced to 120 days in prison, which was suspended for two years. He was fined the Norwegian equivalent of around £18,000.

Larsen received a 90-day suspended sentence, along with a fine of around £11,500. The fines in both cases were about the same as the profits made as a result of the illegal trades.
Click to expand...


lol; interesting reply; very implicit .
 
It appears they are talking about taking advantage of the broker's "auto-ex" feature. It's not really as clever as some of the articles make it sound. Google it, people have done in this same thing in the US 10 years ago.
 
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