According to FINRA, Jin Yi Lim has been fined $17,500 (deferred) and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 12 months for engaging in 32 instances of spoofing in U.S. Treasury Securities in violation of Section 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act.

Spoofing is a manipulative trading practice where traders place orders they intend to cancel before execution in order to move market prices. Lim entered large, fully displayed orders on one side of the market, generally for $25 or $50 million in 5- or 10-year Treasury notes, while simultaneously maintaining smaller iceberg orders on the opposite side.

Other market participants would react to Lim's large displayed orders by moving their prices, withdrawing orders, or placing aggressive orders. In 15 of the 32 instances, Lim received executions on his smaller iceberg orders while his larger orders were still in the market.

Because Lim intended to cancel each larger order at the time he placed it, these orders falsely signaled a shift in buy or sell interest. This type of manipulation harms other market participants who make trading decisions based on false signals.

Spoofing undermines market integrity by creating artificial impressions of supply and demand. While individual investors may not trade Treasury securities directly, manipulation in these markets can affect prices and liquidity across the financial system.