Month: March 2021

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Article: Australia’s banking regulator ends Westpac money laundering probe

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Australia’s banking regulator ends Westpac money laundering probe

Reuters Staff, 12 March 2021

(Reuters) – Australia’s banking regulator said on Friday it had closed the investigation against Westpac Banking Corp for possible breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.

The bank was first accused of breaching the laws in 2019 by the country’s financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC, which led to parallel probes by corporate regulator ASIC and banking regulator Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

In September last year, Westpac was forced to agree to a record A$1.3 billion ($1.01 billion) payment to settle AUSTRAC’s claims.

APRA said on Friday it had closed its investigation after considering the results of the probe by ASIC, which was closed in December last year.

“Although the investigation has not found evidence of breaches … APRA remains determined to ensure Westpac rectifies its risk governance weaknesses effectively and sustainably,” the APRA Deputy Chair John Lonsdale said.

In a separate statement, Westpac acknowledged APRA’s decision to end the probe.

($1 = 1.2844 Australian dollars)

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Article: Traders’ BitMEX Racketeering Suit Dismissed With A Warning

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Traders’ BitMEX Racketeering Suit Dismissed With A Warning

Elise Hansen, 12 March 2021

A California federal judge on Friday nixed traders’ lawsuit accusing cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX of racketeering and “myriad” illegal activities, and warned the traders “to allege only relevant facts” if they bring their claims again.

U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick said four individual traders and BMA LLC, an entity co-owned by several traders, did not adequately show how they had been harmed by the alleged wrongdoing. While the traders may try again with their claims, Judge Orrick cautioned against the lengthy style of their original complaint. Continue reading “Article: Traders’ BitMEX Racketeering Suit Dismissed With A Warning”

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Article: Trader Arrested as WallStreetBets Phenomenon Finds Echo in Japan

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Trader Arrested as WallStreetBets Phenomenon Finds Echo in Japan

Gearoid Reidy and Shoko Oda, 12 March 2021

(Bloomberg) — A retail investor buys shares in a small company, touts his position on social media and inspires a horde of followers to do the same. The stock price goes to the moon — before crashing back to earth.

It’s an all-too-familiar tale to anyone watching the market in 2021, but this wasn’t GameStop Corp. It wasn’t even in America. And it happened in 2018.

It was in the Japanese city of Osaka, where a day trader who goes by the nickname Tonpin was betting on a tiny maker of precision dies and molds called Nichidai Corp. and broadcasting the fact on Twitter, where he has more than 55,000 followers. The stock surged more than sixfold in the first three months of 2018 before losing most of the gains.

The person behind the nickname was Toru Yamada, a former money manager, and he and another man have just been arrested for market manipulation, according to Japanese media reports. He wasn’t arrested for talking the stock up on Twitter, but on suspicion of trying to keep the share price down — albeit so it would have margin-trading restrictions removed which, when it happened, caused the shares to soar to new highs.

The incident shows how regulators sift through unusual trading patterns and come to conclusions often years later. It may pique the interest of protagonists and observers of the recent meme stock rally in the U.S., such as users of the Reddit forum WallStreetBets.

Yamada has yet to be charged, and it’s not clear whether he will be. And while nobody is suggesting that U.S. traders employed similar tactics to those he’s alleged to have used, the case illustrates the risks that can be associated with becoming a high-profile investor on social media. While you’re in the public spotlight, you may also be in the regulators’ crosshairs.

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Article: Citi Must Face Former Trader’s Malicious-Prosecution Lawsuit

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Citi Must Face Former Trader’s Malicious-Prosecution Lawsuit

Bob Van Voris, Jenny Surane and Michael Leonard, Bloomberg News, 12 March 2021

(Bloomberg) — One of three British traders acquitted of using an online chatroom to fix prices in the foreign exchange market can go forward with a lawsuit claiming that Citigroup Inc. “fabricated” a baseless case against him, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on Thursday rejected the bank’s attempt to have the case dismissed. Former Citigroup trader Rohan Ramchandani sued in 2019 claiming damages of $112 million.

Read More: Citigroup Framed Me, Acquitted Forex Trader Claims in Suit

The ruling clears the way for Ramchandani, a former London-based trader, to move forward with the malicious-prosecution suit, which he brought in New York against a group of the bank’s affiliates after his acquittal.

“Mr. Ramchandani’s claims of malicious prosecution are without merit and we will contest them vigorously,” Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for the bank, said in an emailed statement.

A Manhattan federal jury in October 2018 found Ramchandani and two other British traders working for other banks — a group dubbed “the Cartel” — not guilty of conspiring through online chatrooms to manipulate the $5.1-trillion-a-day foreign exchange market.

Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc pleaded guilty to currency manipulation in 2015 as part of a $5.8 billion settlement with the DOJ.

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Article: Goldman Faces New Forex Rigging Suit From Currency Trader

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Goldman Faces New Forex Rigging Suit From Currency Trader

Richard Crump, 12 March 2021

Goldman Sachs is being sued in London over allegations that its traders manipulated foreign exchange markets for profit, in the latest lawsuit filed by a British currency investment firm over trade front-running.

ECU Group alleges that traders at Goldman Sachs International misused its confidential information to make secret profits by trading ahead of foreign exchange transactions by the British company, an illegal tactic known as front-running, according to the High Court claim filed in November but only recently made public. Continue reading “Article: Goldman Faces New Forex Rigging Suit From Currency Trader”

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Article: Newly Obtained Audit Report Details How Shady Clients from Around the World Moved Billions Through Estonia

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Newly Obtained Audit Report Details How Shady Clients from Around the World Moved Billions Through Estonia

Holger Roonemaa and Oliver Kund, KYC360News, 12 March 2021

On a warm Monday morning in June 2014, two auditors from Estonia’s financial regulator stepped into the Tallinn office of Danske Bank, armed with a single piece of graph paper handwritten with the names of 18 of its clients, and demanded to see their records.

At first glance, the customers on the list sounded boring. They were mostly obscure trading companies with generic names like Hilux Services and Polux Management. But the auditors — who had been tipped off by a police unit that tracks financial crime — didn’t have to dig too deep before things got very strange.

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Article: Citigroup Can’t Duck Trader’s Malicious Prosecution Claims

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Citigroup Can’t Duck Trader’s Malicious Prosecution Claims

Hailey Konnath, 11 March 2021

Citigroup Inc. must face a $112 million malicious prosecution suit brought by a former London-based trader who’s been acquitted on foreign exchange-rigging charges, a New York federal court ruled Thursday, finding that the trader has adequately alleged the bank knowingly fed the Justice Department false information about him.

Rohan Ramchandani, the former head of Citigroup’s European forex spot-market trading desk, was among three traders acquitted by a Manhattan federal jury in 2018. Ramchandani has accused the bank of lying to the U.S. Department of Justice to save itself during an antitrust probe into allegations that traders from several major banks colluded to affect daily benchmark rates on the forex spot markets. Continue reading “Article: Citigroup Can’t Duck Trader’s Malicious Prosecution Claims”

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Article: EMERGING MARKETS-Taiwan dollar shrugs off potential manipulation tag; other Asian FX gain

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EMERGING MARKETS-Taiwan dollar shrugs off potential manipulation tag; other Asian FX gain

Shruti Sonal, March 2021

March 11 (Reuters) – The Taiwan dollar strengthened on Thursday even as the country’s central bank warned of a potential U.S. scrutiny of its monetary policy, while other emerging Asian currencies gained as easing inflation fears and falling Treasury yields hurt the greenback.

The Taiwan dollar, among the best performing currencies in the region this year, added 0.6%. Taiwan’s central bank said it bought a net $39.1 billion to intervene in the foreign exchange market, as it stepped up efforts in November and December to “avoid serious disorder”, possibly putting the trade-dependent island in Washington’s crosshairs to be labelled a manipulator.

Most other currencies also gained as the U.S. dollar languished near one-week lows. The South Korean won climbed 0.6%, while the Thai baht added 0.4%.

However, the long-term outlook for the region’s currencies remained less than rosy.

A Reuters poll showed investors cut long bets sharply on the Chinese yuan, while turning short on most other Asian currencies, as improving prospects of economic growth in the United States and the recent rise in yields have bolstered the dollar.

Bets on the South Korean won, the Singapore dollar and the Malaysian ringgit all turned bearish for the first time since early last summer.

Most equities climbed higher, tracking gains on Wall Street overnight after benign consumer price data for February calmed inflation fears and Congress gave final approval to one of the largest economic stimulus measures in U.S. history.

The South Korean benchmark climbed over 2% after five consecutive sessions of declines, while Taiwan and Singapore added 1.6% and 0.9% respectively.

Thai shares hit their highest in nearly two months as consumer confidence increased for the first time in three months in February, bolstered by an easing coronavirus outbreak, government stimulus and the distribution of vaccines.

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Article: Mt. Gox CEO Fights Class In $400M Bitcoin Fraud Case

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Mt. Gox CEO Fights Class In $400M Bitcoin Fraud Case

Clark Mindock, 10 March 2021

The former CEO of defunct Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox doubled down on his opposition to class certification for customers of the service, saying a plan recently announced in Japan would better compensate them than U.S. litigation would.

Mark Karpeles asked an Illinois federal court Tuesday to weigh the impact of a plan created through a Japanese rehabilitation proceeding to return assets to Mt. Gox customers. The former CEO said that though the plan’s details are private, public estimates related to the Japanese plan indicate that former customers could potentially be compensated well through the deal and with much lower costs than proceeding with American litigation. Continue reading “Article: Mt. Gox CEO Fights Class In $400M Bitcoin Fraud Case”

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Article: US Can’t Seize $330M Allegedly Tied To 1MDB Fraud Scheme

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US Can’t Seize $330M Allegedly Tied To 1MDB Fraud Scheme

Caroline Simson, 10 March 2021

U.S. prosecutors came up short in their bid to seize some $330 million in assets held in escrow by Clyde & Co. that are allegedly connected to embezzled 1Malaysia Development Berhad funds when a California judge ruled that the government had not sufficiently shown how the money was tied to the alleged scheme.

U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer concluded on Tuesday that the government’s amended complaint filed last fall failed to show how the money — which an arbitral tribunal determined is owed to a PetroSaudi unit for drilling services provided to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA — was traceable to the fraud against 1MDB. Nor had the government proven that the funds were involved in a money laundering transaction, the judge found. Continue reading “Article: US Can’t Seize $330M Allegedly Tied To 1MDB Fraud Scheme”

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Article: Japan Day Trader Arrested on Market Manipulation Charges: Report

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Japan Day Trader Arrested on Market Manipulation Charges: Report

Gearoid Reidy and Shoko Oda, 10 March 2021

Toru Yamada, a Japanese retail investor who was among the most vocal trading voices on the country’s social media, was arrested in Osaka on charges of market manipulation, according to local media reports.

Yamada, better known by his Twitter account name @Tonpin1234, was arrested on Monday local time by the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office along with another man, Hironobu Utsunomiya, for allegedly breaching the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

The charges related to trades involving Jasdaq-listed company Nichidai Corp. in 2018, the report said. The two placed a large number of sell orders below the market price just before the close, seeking to artificially stabilize Nichidai’s share price with the intention of preventing it from being subject to restrictions on new margin trades, according to the reports. Shares in Nichidai had surged since the start of that year, rising more than threefold by the time of Yamada’s last filing on March 26.

On Twitter, where he was a regular presence until last June, Yamada frequently tweeted about his favored stocks, and his bets were often followed by smaller retail investors. A combative presence on social media, Yamada frequently argued with other users who accused him of manipulation.

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Article: For Telcos, There’s An Inherent Cybersecurity Risk In Just Doing Business

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For Telcos, There’s An Inherent Cybersecurity Risk In Just Doing Business

Daniel Woods, 10 March 2021

Telecommunications companies are in the crosshairs of hackers around the world, and it’s a problem that everyone should be concerned about. Nearly everyone has an account with a telco, and those accounts can be gateways into your bank accounts, investments, digital currencies and other high-value targets.

In this industry, one misstep by a skilled security team could result in millions of dollars in losses for a company and its customers, not to mention embarrassing headlines, costly fines and brand damage that could last decades. Continue reading “Article: For Telcos, There’s An Inherent Cybersecurity Risk In Just Doing Business”

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Article: GameStop, The Second Surge: Anatomy Of A ‘Gamma Swarm’

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GameStop, The Second Surge: Anatomy Of A ‘Gamma Swarm’

George Calhoun, 10 March 2021

GameStop GME -0.7% is not following the script. Despite the confident predictions by almost all the sideline observers (including myself) that the January frenzy in GME shares would end predictably, and badly… this “Stonk” has suddenly surged a second time, embarrassing the conventional wisdom once again.

When GME first erupted in January, I thought it looked like just a clever way to accelerate a conventional short squeeze. (The mechanics of a short squeeze, and the “gamma” accelerant using call options, are described in my previous column.) On that basis, I expected that it would soon deflate and “return to normal.” The battlefield would be littered with the carcasses of small investors who bought at the top. We’d hear the distant sound of champagne popping in the proud towers of Wall Street and Chicago, and the scolds in the press would treat us to another round of lectures on thrift and the Madness of Crowds.

That’s not what happened. The stock did come down as low as $38, but the deflation didn’t stick. As of this moment mid-day (March 10), GME is again trading above $300 a share. [Things are moving fast. See the Update at the end of this piece.]

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Article: Biggest Players In The Short-Selling Game Are Getting A Pass

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Biggest Players In The Short-Selling Game Are Getting A Pass

ERIK SCHATZKER, BRANDON KOCHKODIN, 10 March 2021

It’s in the air again, on Reddit, in Congress, in the C-suite: Hedge funds that get rich off short-selling are the enemy. The odd thing is, the biggest players in the game are getting a pass.

Those would be the asset managers, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds that provide the vast majority of securities used to take bearish positions. Without the likes of BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corp., the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Kuwait Investment Authority filling such an elemental role, investors such as Gabe Plotkin, whose Melvin Capital Management became a piñata for day traders in the GameStop Corp. saga, wouldn’t have shares to sell short.

“Anytime we short a stock, we locate a borrow,” Plotkin said Feb. 18 at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on the GameStop short squeeze.

“Anytime we short a stock, we locate a borrow,” Plotkin said Feb. 18 at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on the GameStop short squeeze.

There’s plenty to choose from. As of mid-2020, some $24 trillion of stocks and bonds were available for such borrowing, with $1.2 trillion in shares—equal to a third of all hedge-fund assets—actually out on loan, according to the International Securities Lending Association.

It’s a situation that on the surface defies logic. Given the popular belief that short sellers create unjustified losses in some stocks, why would shareholders want to supply the ammunition for attacks against their investments? The explanation is fairly straight forward: By loaning out securities for a small fee plus interest, they can generate extra income that boosts returns. That’s key in an industry where fund managers are paid to beat benchmarks and especially valuable in a world of low yields.

The trade-off is simple: For investors with large, diversified portfolios, a single stock plummeting under the weight of a short-selling campaign has little impact over the long run. And in the nearer term, the greater the number of aggregate bets against a stock—the so-called short interest—the higher the fee a lender can charge.

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THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?