The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Switzerland’s financial watchdog, has told the Swiss cantonal bank Basler Kantonalbank to pay SFr2.64 million ($2.9 million) for violating market conduct rules.

The Swiss Financial Market
Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Switzerland’s
financial watchdog, has told the Swiss cantonal bank Basler Kantonalbank to pay
SFr2.64 million ($2.9 million) for violating market conduct rules.

The Swiss financial regulator said in a statement Basler Kantonalbank broke market rules by manipulating the market price of its own
participation certificates in the period between January 2009 and the
end of September 2012.

FINMA said that it had discovered "significant
irregularities" in the trading of Basler Kantonalbank's participation
certificates during the course of a market investigation and initiated
enforcement proceedings in May.

The regulator said it was imposing special conditions and was
also ordering disgorgement of the profits accrued in 2009 up to the summer of
2010, amounting to SFr2.64
million, which will go to the Swiss government.

Basler Kantonalbank said in a statement that it accepted
FINMA's decision and had taken steps to prevent a repeat of the misconduct.

"In autumn 2011, Basler Kantonalbank tried to halt or at least
dampen the decline in prices caused by the US tax dispute, through market
intervention by buying up its own participation certificates. These
support purchases were classified by FINMA as inadmissible," Basler
Kantonalbank said.