This Law360 article discusses the importance of considering unique market features when evaluating claims related to market manipulation and trading conduct in energy markets.
Market manipulation claims are often prompted by specific observations, such as sudden price changes or price patterns that deviate from historical trends. In addition, regulators sometimes point to trading behavior that differs from prior patterns as a cause of the observed prices.
Generally, these types of claims often include the assumption that the observed deviations from historical trends and patterns were caused, at least to a substantial degree, by the alleged manipulation and not by other factors. However, a particularly careful review of this assumption is called for in the context of trading in energy commodities (e.g., oil, gas, or electricity). This is because the unique features of energy markets make them conducive to sudden price changes, breakdowns in existing pricing linkages, and substantial changes in trading patterns, all of which regulators and civil plaintiffs may attribute to market manipulation.
Coauthors Maximilian Bredendiek, Greg Leonard, and Manuel Vasconcelos discuss the need to carefully consider unique market features when evaluating claims related to market manipulation and trading conduct in energy markets. The considerations discussed in this article are particularly important given recent macroeconomic developments and the possibly heightened level of regulatory attention being paid to trading conduct in these markets over the next few years.
This article was originally published by Law360 in April 2025.
London 
