British trader accused in flash crash case appears in court
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An American academic has defended a British trader accused of contributing to a 2010 flash crash in financial markets, arguing that stocks plummeted because of a confluence of events, including the actions an inexperienced mutual fund employee.
Lawrence Harris, a University of Southern California professor, testified during Navinder Singh Sarao's extradition hearing Thursday.
The United States claims the 37-year-old Sarao used an automated trading program to manipulate the market and make nearly $880,000 on the day the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 1,000 points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But Harris says the main cause was an "inexperienced" mutual fund trader who submitted the largest order seen that year.
He says there was a reduction in market liquidity at the time due to several large market moves, probably in response to Greek debt.