The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is investigating claims of "illegal market manipulation" of Burford Capital's share price after an attack by US short-seller Muddy Waters saw it plummet by more than 50%.
On 6 August, Muddy Waters posted a tweet stating that at "8 am London time" the next day "we will announce a new short position on an accounting fiasco that's potentially insolvent and possibly facing a liquidity crunch." What followed was more than a 50% crash in Burford's share price over the coming days. After reviewing trading data from the London Stock Exchange on 6 and 7 August - the days on which Muddy Waters tweeted about a forthcoming short target and subsequently mounted its attack - Burford found the trading activity was "consistent with material illegal activity", and has ...
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