Market abuse in energy markets

Article 5 of REMIT prohibits market manipulation and attempted market manipulation on wholesale energy markets, and Article 3 prohibits trading on inside information. ACER’s Guidance names the practices that typically fall under these prohibitions, from wash trades to capacity withholding, and stresses that they are a starting point for assessment, not a conclusion: each case turns on its facts.

Two points from the Guidance shape every page below. Market manipulation does not require intent: what matters is whether the behaviour gave, or was likely to give, false or misleading signals, or secured an artificial price. And whether the participant profited is irrelevant to whether a breach occurred, though it matters to the size of a fine.

• Capacity withholding under REMIT: economic and physicalWhat economic and physical withholding mean under REMIT, ACER's two-part test, how A2A, SFE and Iberdrola fared, and what explains a high offer innocently.
• Wash trades and pre-arranged trading under REMITACER's definitions of wash trades and pre-arranged trading, the ANRE, EWRC and Danish decisions that applied them, and when a sleeve trade is legitimate.
• Layering and spoofing in energy markets under REMITACER's definitions of layering and spoofing, how non-genuine orders on one side of the book move the price on the other, and the decisions that applied them.
• Quote stuffing in power intraday markets under REMITWhat quote stuffing is under ACER's Guidance, how the CNMC's 2024 decisions found it in Spanish intraday, and why rejected orders can still be manipulation.
• Transmission capacity hoarding under REMITACER's definition of capacity hoarding, how self-trading across an interconnector uses cross-zonal capacity, and the Danish decisions against Energi Danmark.
• Erroneous orders and fat-finger trades under REMITWhy an unintentional order can breach REMIT's manipulation ban, what ACER says about intent, and how Eneco, Vattenfall, Energi Danmark and EDF Trading fared.
• Non-genuine orders, bids and balancing data under REMITOrders never meant to execute under ACER's Guidance: balancing bids priced to avoid activation, reserve commitments that cannot be met, and blocking orders.
• Insider trading in energy markets: REMIT Article 3Inside information under REMIT, the Article 3 trading ban, and the EDF, Kozloduy, Energi Danmark and Statnett decisions on outages, errors and late disclosure.

REMIT covers electricity and natural gas, including LNG, and the same typologies apply to both. The decisions linked from each guide come from both markets; each case page states which. Market data and screens on this site cover European power markets; the guides and the enforcement register cover both commodities.