Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
Lenox Financial Services, Inc. Fined by FINRA
18 October 2018
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $15,000. A lower fine was imposed after considering, among other things, the firm’s revenue and financial resources. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to make required financial interest and beneficial ownership disclosures in research reports.
UBS Financial Services Inc. Fined by FINRA
5 October 2018
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and
fined $50,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented
to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to report to the Trade
Reporting and Compliance Engine® (TRACE®) transactions in TRACE-Eligible
Agency Debt Securities and in TRACE-Eligible Securitized Products within the
time permitted under FINRA Rule 6730(a).
‘Despondent’ Musk’s Tesla resembles Lehman, Greenlight’s Einhorn says
Jennifer Ablam, Jonathan Stempel
Reuters, 5 October 2018
Hedge fund manager David Einhorn lambasted Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and its “despondent” Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday, comparing the electric car company to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, where he had flagged accounting problems several months before its 2008 collapse.
CIM Securities, LLC Fined by FINRA
3 October 2018
A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was
issued in which the firm was censured and fined $15,000. Without admitting
or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the
entry of findings that it failed to comply with its obligations to review,
approve, document and supervise private securities transactions by three
of its registered representatives.
Will Naked Short Sellers Torpedo The Trump Bull Market?
Richard Levick
Forbes, 26 September 2018
Nevermind the succession of new tariffs that beclouds the prospect of sustained economic growth. Some observers believe even greater threats to the “Trump Rally” are rooted deep within our financial markets – specifically, in the sort of systematized and pandemic short-selling that can roil market innovators like Tesla, not to mention small and midcap companies that are much more vulnerable to manipulation. One might wonder which burgeoning new industries are on the current hit list. Publicly traded marijuana companies are mentioned often.
The Government’s New Strategy to Crack Down on ‘Spoofing’
Peter J. Henning
New York Times, 4 September 2018
The Justice Department has tried to crack down on traders who try to move markets by entering and quickly canceling orders, conduct that goes by the catchy moniker “spoofing.”
But the government’s early prosecution of the crime has faced a big setback. In just the second trial for spoofing, which the Dodd-Frank Act outlawed, a Connecticut jury acquitted a former trader at UBS of spoofing this spring. That raised questions about whether prosecutors can pursue these cases.
A notorious short-seller has come out swinging against a popular marijuana stock (CRON)
Business Insider, 30 August 2018
Citron Research — a short-selling firm with a history of wiping out stock prices and run by Andrew Left — has a new target: cannabis stocks.
In a report published Thursday, the firm says Cronos, one of the most valuable publicly traded marijuana companies, is worth roughly one-third of its current price: $3.50 per share.
Interactive Brokers Unit Faces Fine for Naked Short Selling
Nasdaq.com, 21 August 2018
A unit of Interactive Brokers Group , Interactive Brokers LLC, has been charged with violations of Regulation SHO and lack of proper supervisory measures. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has imposed a penalty of $5.5 million on the company.
South Korea exchange ups scrutiny of Merrill Lynch trading
Song Jung-a, Emma Dunkley
Financial Times, 21 August 2018
South Korea’s stock exchange has stepped up its monitoring of high-frequency trading by the Seoul branch of Bank of America Merrill Lynch after local investors complained about alleged unfair stock trades by the US brokerage.
The scrutiny comes after individual local investors filed petitions to the presidential office, saying they suffered huge losses due to large, high-frequency trades and bets against South Korean stocks through the brokerage since last year.
Brazil watchdog fines Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada for forex manipulation
Bruno Federowski, Richard Chang
Reuters, 13 June 2018
Brazil’s antitrust watchdog on Wednesday fined Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) a total of 42.9 million reais ($11.6 million) for meddling with foreign exchange rates charged to clients.
The board of regulator Cade unanimously approved a proposal to fine Morgan Stanley 30.280 million reais and RBC 12.586 million reais.
“Junk” explains Wall Street corruption better than most newspapers do
Lucy Komisar
The Komisar Scoop, 1 February 2018
I have been doing investigative journalism about financial and corporate corruption for 20 years. Ayad Akhtar’s play is right on the mark.
It is based on the story of the corrupt junk bond trader Michael Milken. He got confederates to manipulate stocks so he could take over companies to loot and destroy them. It was a scandal of the 1980s. Too bad the market corruption he revealed never stopped.
Key to catching the traders charged with manipulating metals futures: electronic chatter
Francine McKenna
MarketWatch, 30 January 2018
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced criminal and civil enforcement actions on Monday against Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc, UBS AG and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and six individuals involved in spoofing and stop loss collusion schemes. The criminal and civil enforcement actions were filed in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Investigative Division.
Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. were hit the hardest, agreeing to pay a $30 million penalty while neither admitting or denying they failed to supervise precious metals traders who allegedly schemed to manipulate the price of precious metals futures contracts and allegedly colluding to trigger customer stop-loss orders. The fraud allegedly ran from Feb. 2008 to at least Sept. 2014.
5,000 Reasons Why the Overstock.com Saga is Crazier Than Ever
Gary Weiss
gary-weiss.com, 30 January 2018
It’s been a long time since the financial press has cast a skeptical eye on Overstock.com and its CEO, Patrick Byrne, Yet there are multiple reasons to do so. Five thousand to be exact. So I’ve dusted off my blog for an update on my favorite fraudulent stock.
As in all soap operas, its continuing story line is not new: Byrne wants the stock to go up. The stock has a history of manipulation, mainly through cooking the books, resulting in multiple restatements. But it takes an expert to sniff out accounting irregularities. All you need to detect the latest Overstock scam is a working pair of eyes and an Internet connection.
Federal Charges Filed in Price ‘Spoofing’ Inquiry on Wall St.
Emily Flitter
New York Times, 29 January 2018
Federal authorities have filed civil and criminal charges against a group of Wall Street banks and individuals that they say tried to manipulate markets in gold, silver and certain financial products, including by showing potential customers fake prices.
The actions, filed over the past several days, are part of a yearslong effort by financial regulators and the Department of Justice to stamp out behavior that gives the biggest banks an advantage over smaller market players.
CFTC, 29 January 2018
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against Deutsche Bank AG (DB AG) and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (DBSI) (collectively, DB), requiring DB to pay a $30 million civil monetary penalty and to undertake remedial relief. The Order finds that from at least February 2008 and continuing through at least September 2014, DB AG, by and through certain precious metals traders (Traders), engaged in a scheme to manipulate the price of precious metals futures contracts by utilizing a variety of manual spoofing techniques with respect to precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX), and by trading in a manner to trigger customer stop-loss orders.
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
