Not upheld: Mortgage administration / arrears handling complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained that HSBC unfairly executed his limit order to sell 14,370 shares in company F at 738p on 2 September 2025, achieving only a partial fill of one share before the price fell below his limit. He alleged that HSBC's trader engaged in front-running by simultaneously executing a separate 15,155 share trade while leaving his order pending. HSBC explained that the order size exceeded the exchange market size and required manual execution, and that the price moved below the limit price at the same moment the single share was executed. The ombudsman found that HSBC provided sufficient evidence of fair execution, confirmed the 15,155 share trade was from another brokerage, and concluded that the partial fill resulted from market conditions rather than misconduct, therefore not upholding the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that HSBC provided sufficient evidence demonstrating that the share price fell below Mr H's limit price at the exact moment his single share was executed. The large order size (19 times market size) required manual execution, and traders are entitled to determine how to place larger orders to minimize market impact without being unfair. The 15,155 share trade was confirmed to not be from HSBC Invest Direct and was likely already on the exchange order book before Mr H's order was submitted. The most likely explanation for the partial fill was the number of orders already on the exchange book and the price moving below the limit price simultaneously with execution.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website