Pre-trade hedging: Evidence from the issuance of retail structured products

Brian J. Henderson, Neil D. Pearson and Li Wang

Journal of Financial Economics, 2020, vol. 137, issue 1, 108-128

Abstract: We find evidence consistent with previously unrecognized market manipulation by broker-dealers. Specifically, we show that pre-trade hedging, which is distinct from front-running, alters prices at which derivative trades occur. We show this behavior is intentional by exploiting variation in the design of structured equity products (SEPs). We find positive abnormal returns on SEP pricing dates for which issuers benefit from altering closing stock prices but no such returns on pricing dates of otherwise similar SEPs. We also show that large buy trades near the close of trading are more frequent when SEP issuers have incentives to alter closing stock prices.

Keywords: Market manipulation; Structured equity products; Equity-linked securities; Delta hedging; Pre-trade hedging; Price impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G13 G14 G23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:137:y:2020:i:1:p:108-128

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2020.02.004

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