Note that at 11:36:37 there were two trades for zero volume and zero dollars Note that at 12:29:07 there were two trades for zero volume and zero dollars Over the trading day 51 of these transactions occurred
Today the same phenomena is occurring
As of 15:19 AEST seventy one (71) of these transactions had taken place and the share price had dropped more than 3 percent
I understand that it is not unusual for zero trades of zero volumes to go through the system, however my concern is excessive use is occurring which could be construed as manipulation of the Mermaid Marine Australia share price (whether it be by short selling, algorithmic or other styles of trading)
I am sure your systems pick up any irregularities by flags, etc -however could you please investigate if there is an issue. I would rather you did not send me the standard email back until at least checking and making sure that nothing unusual has transpired
Below is the reply that I was not too happy about
Thank you for your call earlier.
Please see some information below regarding 'Booking Purposes Trading':
A Booking Purpose trade is a trade that does not update official prices or daily trade statistics - that is, it does not update open, high, low, last or closing prices, number of trades, volume or value traded. The trade is made purely for broker bookkeeping purposes.
Booking Purposes trades are reported on ITS using condition code BP (or BPXT if the Booking Purpose trade is a crossing) and are used for internal accounting/book-keeping purposes (for example, for the purposes of correcting a client?s identification on a trade). ASX makes this facility available to allow Participant/broker to ensure that their records are correct within their systems.
While Booking Purpose trades are used for internal accounting purposes only, trading representatives should be aware that these trades are still noted by ASX Market Control. Instances of excessive use and/or inappropriate use of the Booking Purpose trades by Participants may be referred to ASX Compliance for further assessment and action, where appropriate.
As I was not too happy about the reply I sent another email and recieved this response
RE: Mermaid Marine Limited (MRM)
Thank you for this information regarding MRM.
ASX Markets Supervision appreciates information that is received from the public, as it assists with our supervisory function.
Your observations in relation to MRM have been passed onto ASX Surveillance for consideration.
Surveillance has reviewed recent trading in MRM and notes that there have been no trades for zero quantities or at zero prices.
It appears that your data provider is showing incorrect information. They should not show the ?booking purpose only? trades (?BPO?) as actual market trades since ?booking purpose only trade? is a term which refers to internal transactions used by brokers for their accounting purposes.
Your data provider has blanked out the actual quantities and prices from the BPOs and shown them as trades when in fact they should have ignored the ?trade?.
You may wish to contact your data provider and alert them to this error so that they can take steps to rectify the problem. Your data provider may wish to contact the people they purchase their data from if they need further information on BPOs and how to treat them.
Thank you once again for raising your concerns with ASX.
The ASX then put out this disclosure
Although ASX Limited ABN 98 008 624 691 and its related bodies corporate ("ASX") have made every effort to ensure that the information contained herein is accurate and reliable, ASX does not give any warranty or representation as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information.
I still not believe the question has been correctly addressed and still leaves unanswered issues
MRM Price at posting:
$2.72 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
