SMBC Nikko ordered to pay 700 mil. yen fine over market manipulation

A Japanese court on Monday ordered SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. to pay a fine of 700 million yen ($5.3 million) and a forfeiture of 4.47 billion yen for manipulating the market by illegally propping up certain stock prices to stabilize them.

The Tokyo District Court also sentenced the major brokerage’s former executive Teruya Sugino, 57, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years. Five other former executives at the brokerage, including its former deputy president, are also charged in the trading scandal but their first hearings are yet to be decided.

Prosecutors had sought a penalty of 1...