Section 9(a)(2)

Section 9(a)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act prohibits effecting transactions that create actual or apparent active trading in a security, or that raise or depress its price, for the purpose of inducing others to buy or sell. It is the most direct anti-manipulation provision in US securities law.

law and enforcement · updated 2026-10-16

Where does section 9(a)(2) come up?

This term is used in the following manipulation techniques, each explained in full on its own page.

• Wash trading — Wash trading is buying and selling the same asset with no change in beneficial ownership and no market risk, so that a trade prints publicly and creates a false impression of activity or price.
• Matched orders — Matched orders are prearranged trades between parties acting in concert, entered so that they execute against each other at a price agreed away from the market rather than discovered in it.
• Painting the tape — Painting the tape is executing a series of transactions to create a misleading appearance of activity or of a price trend on the public trade record, in order to draw other participants in.

Enforcement actions involving these techniques

See also

• Section 10(b) — Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is the statutory hook for the SEC's antifraud rules. It prohibits the use of …
• Market manipulation — Market manipulation is conduct that interferes with the honest formation of a price — through fake orders, coordinated trades, fal…

Terms that refer here

Section 10(b) · Stock pool

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