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Front running is the illegal practice of a stockbroker executing orders on a security for its own account while taking advantage of advance knowledge of pending orders from its customers. The front running broker either buys for its own account before filling customer buy orders that drive up the price, or sells for its own account before filling customer sell orders that drive down the price. Front running is considered unethical since the broker is making a profit at the direct expense of its own customers. In 2003, several hedge fund and mutual fund companies became embroiled in an illegal late trading scandal made public by a complaint against Bank of America brought by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. A resulting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into allegations of front-running activity implicated Edward D. Jones & Co., Inc., Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Strong Mutual Funds, Putnam Investments, Invesco, and Prudential Securities. Following interviews in 2012 and 2013, the FBI said front running had resulted in profits of $50 million to $100 million for the bank. FBI suspects front running of Fannie, Freddie in swaps market when Wall Street traders may be manipulating a key derivatives market and front running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 〔http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/14/us-usa-swaps-probe-idUSBREA0D04N20140114 $50 million to $100 million for the bank, via Front Running〕 ==Explanation== For example, suppose a broker receives a market order from a customer to buy a large block—say, 400,000 shares—of some stock, but before placing the order for the customer, the broker buys 20,000 shares of the same stock for his own account at $100 per share, then afterward places the customer's order for 400,000 shares, driving the price up to $102 per share and allowing the broker to immediately sell his shares for, say, $101.75, generating a significant profit of $35,000 in just a short time. This $35,000 is likely to be just a part of the additional cost to the customer's purchase caused by the broker's self-dealing. This example uses unusually large numbers to get the point across. In practice, computer trading splits up large orders into many smaller ones, making front-running more difficult to detect. Moreover, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's 2001 change to pricing stock in pennies, rather than fractions of no less than 1/8 of a dollar, facilitated front running by reducing the extra amount that must be offered to step in front of other orders. By front-running, the broker has put his or her own financial interest above the customer's interest and is thus committing fraud. In the United States, he or she might also be breaking laws on market manipulation or insider trading. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Front running」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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