BNP Paribas to face disciplinary measures

Japan's securities watchdog on Friday recommended disciplinary action
against the French bank BNP Paribas for falsifying a document and
manipulating stock prices on the Tokyo market.    The Securities and
Exchange Surveillance Commission said in a statement it had asked the
Financial Services Agency to take administrative action and any other
'appropriate measures' against BNP Paribas Securities (Japan)
Limited.    It did not specify what kind of steps should be taken.
It said the firm had submitted reports that ' were incomplete in terms
of content and contained untruthful descriptions' in relation to a
secret derivatives agreement with now- bankrupt property developer
Urban Corp.    BNP Paribas was given a business improvement order in
November in relation to that case, which was found to violate the
Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.    The commission said that in
a separate case, a trader at the French firm was suspected of
manipulating stocks in an unnamed company, identified by Japanese
media as Internet and telecoms giant Softbank Corp.