COPENHAGEN, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Norway's financial supervision authority (FSA) announced on Wednesday that it had fined Danske Bank 50 million Norwegian crowns ($4.42 million) for market manipulation.
The financial watchdog, also known as Finanstilsynet, stated in a release that it imposed the penalty on the bank regarding the issuance of a government bond in February 2023.
"Finanstilsynet believes that the swap rate was raised artificially by Danske Bank at pricing time," the agency explained, noting that it determined the bank had benefited from a higher effective yield.
In a separate statement, Danske Bank informed the Danish FSA that it had detected internal conditions raising suspicions of possible market manipulation, which led the case to be handed over to Norway.
Danske Bank admitted that its management of its role in the bond issue did not adequately balance its interests with the bond issuer.
"We strongly denounce the behavior outlined by the Norwegian supervisory authority and express regret to all parties involved for this incident," the statement added.
The bank mentioned that it has restructured its organization in response to the incident but did not provide further details.
($1 = 11.3116 Norwegian crowns)