Category: Article – Media

Posted on

Article: U.S. Fines Merrill Lynch For ‘spoofing’ In Precious Metals Futures

Article - Media, Publications

U.S. Fines Merrill Lynch For ‘spoofing’ In Precious Metals Futures

RTTNews, 25 June 2019

Merrill Lynch’s global commodities trading business agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the government’s investigation into a multi-year scheme by the company’s precious metals traders to mislead the market for precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange Inc., the U.S. Justice Department said.

Merrill Lynch admitted that, starting at least 2008 and continuing through 2014, precious metals traders employed by the company’s schemed to deceive other market participants by injecting materially false and misleading information into the precious metals futures market. They did so by placing fraudulent orders for precious metals futures contracts that, at the time the traders placed the orders, they intended to cancel before execution. Continue reading “Article: U.S. Fines Merrill Lynch For ‘spoofing’ In Precious Metals Futures”

Posted on

Article: Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets

Article - Media, Publications

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets

Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, 25 June 2019

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. (MLCI), a global commodities trading business, has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the government’s investigation into a multi-year scheme by MLCI precious metals traders to mislead the market for precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX), announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office. Continue reading “Article: Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. Enters into Corporate Resolution and Agrees to Pay $25 Million in Connection with Deceptive Trading Practices Executed on U.S. Commodities Markets”

Posted on

Article: Merrill Lynch fined by DOJ, CFTC for ‘spoofing’ in precious metals futures

Article - Media, Publications

Merrill Lynch fined by DOJ, CFTC for ‘spoofing’ in precious metals futures

Francine McKenna, 25 June 2019

Merrill Lynch’s global commodities trading business agreed to pay $25 million and enter into a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice on Tuesday to settle charges regarding a multi-year scheme by its precious metals traders to mislead the market for precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange Inc. Merrill Lynch admitted to the allegations that beginning by at least 2008 and continuing through 2014, its precious metals traders schemed to deceive other market participants by injecting materially false and misleading information into the precious metals futures market by placing fraudulent “spoof” orders for precious metals futures contracts that, at the time the traders placed thousands of fraudulent orders, they intended to cancel before execution. Continue reading “Article: Merrill Lynch fined by DOJ, CFTC for ‘spoofing’ in precious metals futures”

Posted on

Article: CFTC Orders Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. to Pay Approximately $25 Million for Spoofing, Manipulation, and Attempted Manipulation in Precious Metals Futures

Article - Media, Publications

CFTC Orders Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. to Pay Approximately $25 Million for Spoofing, Manipulation, and Attempted Manipulation in Precious Metals Futures

CFTC , 25 June 2019

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. (MLCI), a provisionally registered swap dealer, for spoofing, manipulation, and attempted manipulation over a six-year period with respect to certain precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX).

The CFTC Order imposes monetary sanctions totaling approximately $25 million, which includes a civil monetary penalty of $11.5 million dollars, over $2.3 million in restitution, and disgorgement of $11.1 million. The Order also requires MLCI to cooperate with the CFTC in matters related to this action and the underlying conduct, and to comply with certain obligations in connection with its corporate compliance program and reporting requirements. Continue reading “Article: CFTC Orders Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. to Pay Approximately $25 Million for Spoofing, Manipulation, and Attempted Manipulation in Precious Metals Futures”

Posted on

Article: U.S. judge tosses former SAC Capital trader’s insider trading guilty plea

Article - Media, Publications

U.S. judge tosses former SAC Capital trader’s insider trading guilty plea

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge in Manhattan on Friday threw out the 2013 insider trading guilty plea of a former trader at SAC Capital Advisors LP, the hedge fund once run by billionaire Steven A. Cohen, saying recent changes in the law meant there were not enough facts to support the plea.

The trader, Richard Choo-Beng Lee, 62, had been a major cooperating witness and one of the first to plead guilty in former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s insider trading crackdown, which began in 2009 and led to more than 80 guilty pleas and convictions.

Read Full Article

Posted on

Article: ECB’s Draghi brushes off Trump charge of currency manipulation

Article - Media, Publications

ECB’s Draghi brushes off Trump charge of currency manipulation

News Desk, 19 June 2019

June 19: European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said Tuesday that the institution “doesn’t target the exchange rate”, shrugging off an allegation of currency manipulation from US President Donald Trump.

“We have our remit. We have our mandate. Our mandate is price stability” or inflation just below two percent, Draghi told a central banking conference in Sintra, Portugal.

“We are ready to use all the instruments that are necessary to fulfil this mandate, and we don’t target the exchange rate,” he added.

Draghi’s statement that weak economic growth and sluggish inflation could prompt the ECB to slash further rates already at historic lows had earlier sparked Trump’s ire.

“Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA,” Trump said on Twitter.

“They have been getting away with this for years, along with China and others,” he added.

Draghi said in a speech that “further cuts in policy interest rates… remain part of our tools” as the bank looks to juice growth and inflation.

Eurozone policymakers had already discussed potential rate cuts in early June, but Draghi’s latest remarks were the first to catch markets’ full attention.

That was in part because he said the central bank was ready to move “in the absence of improvement” rather than if economic conditions worsen, lowering the threshold for action.

But Trump later in the day continued to imply that the ECB was somehow looking to gain an advantage, rather than responding to economic conditions in the euro area.

Read Full Article

Posted on

Article: Draghi brushes off Trump accusation of currency manipulation

Article - Media, Publications

Draghi brushes off Trump accusation of currency manipulation

EURACTIV, 19 June 2019

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said Tuesday (18 June) that the institution “doesn’t target the exchange rate”, shrugging off an allegation of currency manipulation from US President Donald Trump.

“We have our remit. We have our mandate. Our mandate is price stability” or inflation just below two percent, Draghi told a central banking conference in Sintra, Portugal.

“We are ready to use all the instruments that are necessary to fulfil this mandate, and we don’t target the exchange rate,” he added.

Draghi’s statement that weak economic growth and sluggish inflation could prompt the ECB to slash further rates already at historic lows had earlier sparked Trump’s ire.

“Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA,” Trump said on Twitter.

“They have been getting away with this for years, along with China and others,” he added.
Read Full Article

Posted on

Article: Online Attackers Called Us ‘Canada’s Madoff,’ Lawsuit Alleges

Article - Media

Online Attackers Called Us ‘Canada’s Madoff,’ Lawsuit Alleges

Amanda Cantrell

Institutional Investor, 18 June 2019

Secret Dropbox folders, a negative Twitter campaign, and an exclusive dinner for short-selling “conspirators” are all tactics alleged by Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group against rival firm West Face Capital and a slew of other defendants, according to the latest filing in a long-running legal campaign.

Posted on

Article: Merrill Lynch faces sanctions for extreme scalping role in Korea

Article - Media

Merrill Lynch faces sanctions for extreme scalping role in Korea

Yoo Joon-ho, Lee Eun-joo

Pulse, 18 June 2019

U.S. brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch is facing possible disciplinary action from South Korea’s stock exchange authority for its alleged role in market-disrupting high-frequency trading on behalf of U.S. Citadel Securities.

Korea Exchange, the country’s stock exchange operator, said on Tuesday that it will convene a market monitoring committee on Wednesday to determine the level of punishment against Merrill Lynch. The action may include warnings, stern warnings and financial penalties.

Read full article.

Posted on

Article: Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat

Article - Media, Publications

Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat

John O’Donnell, 13 July 2019

Europe’s Baltic states are at risk from further Russian money laundering, a top European police official said after several big banks were hit by scandals centered on the region.

Pedro Felicio, who is responsible for fighting money laundering at European police agency Europol, told Reuters that “huge inflows of criminal money” are mainly coming into Europe from Russia and China.

Russian money is alleged to be at the heart of multi-billion dollar laundering rackets that engulfed Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest lender and Sweden’s Swedbank. Continue reading “Article: Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat”

Posted on

Article: Nymox Pharmaceutical: Assessing The Short And Long Ideas

Article - Media, Publications

Nymox Pharmaceutical: Assessing The Short And Long Ideas

Avisol Capital Partners, 13 June 2019

Nymox Pharmaceutical (NYMX) has been accused of being an outright serial scam by well-known biopharma short expert Richard Pearson. This was from August 10, 2016, and he had this headline for his article – “Nymox: This Offshore ‘Biotech’ Promotion Will Go To Zero (Yes, Zero).” In that well-written article, he went on to claim how the company hid details of poor trial data from the public, while senior management continued to dump stock without timely SEC disclosure, how the company’s auditor, legal counsel, bankers are all “closely tied to regulatory violations, stock promotions and/or outright fraud,” and how the author filed an SEC complaint against the company after publishing the article.

That article took the stock down by almost 50%. However, it quickly recovered in the same month to soar back to above where it was before the fall. Couple more short articles followed over the years. Some people, I am sure, made money during that fall and rise.
Continue reading “Article: Nymox Pharmaceutical: Assessing The Short And Long Ideas”

Posted on

Article: Swiss regulator to fine banks €80m over foreign exchange cartel

Article - Media, Publications

Swiss regulator to fine banks €80m over foreign exchange cartel

The Irish Times, 06 June 2019

Four British and US banks will be fined about 90 million Swiss francs (€80m) this week by Switzerland’s competition authority for colluding to rig foreign exchange markets, weeks after the European Union handed out €1 billion of penalties for similar misconduct.

Weko, as the Swiss regulator is known, found that traders at Barclays, JPMorgan, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland worked together in a cartel-style arrangement to manipulate currency prices for their own gain, according to people briefed on the decision. Continue reading “Article: Swiss regulator to fine banks €80m over foreign exchange cartel”

Posted on

Article: Part 7: Illegal Naked Shorting: DTCC Continuous Net Settlement and Stock Borrowing Programs Have Loopholes That Facilitate Illegal Naked Shorting

Article - Media

Part 7: Illegal Naked Shorting: DTCC Continuous Net Settlement and Stock Borrowing Programs Have Loopholes That Facilitate Illegal Naked Shorting

Larry Smith

Smith On Stocks, 31 May 2019

There is an integral relationship between the DTCC and hedge funds. The DTCC is owned by Prime Brokers; these are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrell Lynch and other household name investment banks. Prime Brokers provide basic services to hedge funds that allow them to trade with multiple brokerage houses while maintaining a centralized master account at their prime broker containing cash and securities. The prime broker offers stock loan services, portfolio reporting, consolidated cash management and other services. Hedge fund support is a very meaningful percentage of the net income of Prime Brokers.

Read full article.

See All Larry Smith Posts @ SNSS

Posted on

Article: THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS

Article - Media, Publications

THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS

Nicholas Larsen, International Banker, 20 May 2019

On April 5, Lars Idermark resigned from his position as the chairman of Swedbank, headquartered in Sweden. Idermark stepped down from his position only a week after the chief executive officer, and previously the supervisor of Swedbank operations in the Baltic states, Birgitte Bonnesen, was fired. The moves come amid sweeping allegations that Sweden’s oldest bank was involved in laundering billions of dollars’ worth of Russian money. In particular, the lender’s Baltic units have been named as being complicit in handling illegal funds from Russia as well as other smaller former Soviet countries. Continue reading “Article: THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS”

Posted on

Article: ReWalk Robotics Completes One-for-Twenty-Five Reverse Share Split

Article - Media, Publications

ReWalk Robotics Completes One-for-Twenty-Five Reverse Share Split

GLOBE NEWSWIRE, 29 May 2019

YOKNEAM ILIT, Israel and MARLBOROUGH, Mass., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ReWalk Robotics Ltd. (RWLK) (“ReWalk” or the “Company”) reported today that it has completed the reverse share split of ReWalk ordinary share at a ratio of one-for-twenty-five shares, which will take effect on April 1, 2019. The Company also increased its authorized and registered share capital and amended its Articles of Association to reflect the reverse share split and the increase in share capital. Following the reverse share split and increase in authorized share capital, the total number of ordinary shares that the Company is authorized to issue will be 60 million shares, the par value per share of the ordinary shares will be NIS 0.25 and the authorized share capital of the Company will be NIS 15 million.

THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?