English

Alternative forms

• front-running, frontrunning

Noun

front running ‎(uncountable)

1. (finance) The illegal practice of a stockbroker who, on receiving a large client order, places an order for his or her own account ahead of the client's, knowing that when the client's order is placed it will move the market and create a profit for the broker.
   • 2012 Oct. 1, Ben Moshinsky, "Four Charged for in U.K. FSA Insider-Trading Probe," Business Week (retrieved 19 May 2014):

     The charges stem from an investigation into the front-running of block trades . . . a practice in which a trader takes a position to capitalize on advance knowledge of a transaction large enough to influence the price of securities.

2. (finance) The illegal practice of placing orders for a security on one's own account in advance of promoting or recommending it.
3. (business) Any practice of buying something the value of which is about to increase due to a future purchase by another, especially where the knowledge derives from a fiduciary relationship.

Related terms

• front runner