FCA v. Michael Coscia (layering, 2013)

Settled

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In 2013, the Financial Conduct Authority settled an action with Michael Coscia. The final notice finds Coscia deliberately layered the order book on ICE Futures Europe Brent and gasoil futures over six weeks in 2011, placing and cancelling large orders to give a false impression of interest. The penalty is USD 903,176 after a 30% settlement discount. The release records a civil penalty of $903,176.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$903k

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$903k

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Financial Conduct Authority announced this matter on July 3, 2013. The respondent named is Michael Coscia (1 individual, 0 entities).

This library tags the matter as layering, price manipulation and spoofing, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The final notice finds Coscia deliberately layered the order book on ICE Futures Europe Brent and gasoil futures over six weeks in 2011, placing and cancelling large orders to give a false impression of interest. The penalty is USD 903,176 after a 30% settlement discount.

The conduct is recorded against futures, with ICE identified in the release.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil monetary penalty of $903,176. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with 3 techniques in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Layering — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
• Price manipulation — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
• Spoofing — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2013-07-03 FCA final notice

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• FCA final notice

The linked release is published by the issuing regulator under its own terms. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.