An oil broker suffered losses of close to $10 million after a suspected rogue trader allegedly carried out unauthorised trading.
The flurry of trading is believed to have caused an unexpected global rise in crude oil future prices.
London-based PVM Oil Futures issued a statement after rumours spread about irregular trading on City and Asian markets.
In a statement issued by managing director Robin Bieber, the firm said it was investigating the unauthorised trades.
The statement said: “PVM can confirm that it was the victim of unauthorised trading on Tuesday June 30th.
“As a result of a series of unauthorised trades, substantial volumes of futures contracts were held by PVM.
“When this was discovered, the positions were closed in an orderly fashion.
“PVM suffered a loss totalling a little under $10 million.
“PVM expects the highest standards of conduct from its people and takes contraventions of those standards extremely seriously.”
The unauthorised trading reportedly took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning and led to a spike in London Brent crude futures later in the day to an eight-month high of $73 per barrel.
The trades were placed on ICE Futures Europe, part of the Intercontinental Exchange, where traders can buy or sell crude oil for delivery in several months’ time, effectively betting on whether prices will go up or down.
PVM said that Steve Perkins, a senior broker based at the firm's London office, was responsible for the unauthorised trades.
Agencies