Category: Publications

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Article: US charges another former JP Morgan exec with market manipulation

Article - Media, Publications

US charges another former JP Morgan exec with market manipulation

Reuters . New York, 17 November 2019

The Department of Justice has charged another former JPMorgan Chase and Co executive with alleged racketeering and manipulating precious metals prices between 2008 and 2016, the latest in a string of similar prosecutions.

The indictment against Jeffrey Ruffo, who is also charged with other federal crimes including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, is the result of an ‘ongoing investigation’, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Ruffo is the sixth person to be charged with alleged fraud in connection to JPMorgan’s precious metals desk.

The case relates to spoofing, which involves placing bids to buy or offers to sell contracts with the intent to cancel them before execution, allowing spoofers to influence prices. In recent years there has a been a surge in spoofing related prosecutions in the United States by the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Ruffo could not immediately be reached for comment.

A JPMorgan spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. The US bank has said in recent regulatory filings that it is cooperating with various investigations relating to its metals trading practices.

According to the indictment, Ruffo worked at JPMorgan from 2008 to 2017 as a salesperson serving hedge funds investing in precious metals and he encouraged JPMorgan traders to place deceptive orders to create price advantages for his clients.

The indictment also alleged that Ruffo and his former colleagues defrauded JPMorgan’s clients who had invested in ‘barrier options’ by pushing option prices to levels that benefited the bank.

An option is a financial instrument that gives buyers the right to buy or sell an underlying asset at an agreed price and at a fixed time. Its value is tied to the value of the asset.

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Release: RM LAW Announces Investigation of Craft Brew Alliance, Inc.

Release

RM LAW Announces Investigation of Craft Brew Alliance, Inc.

15 November 2019

RM LAW, P.C. is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Craft Brew Alliance, Inc. (“CBA” or the “Company”) (BREW) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law related to the Company’s efforts to sell the Company to Anheuser-Busch (“A-B”).

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Article: Toronto Transit Commission settles benefits fraud lawsuit

Article - Media, Publications

Toronto Transit Commission settles benefits fraud lawsuit

Staff , 15 November 2019

The Toronto Transit Commission has settled a 2016 lawsuit against its insurer for the alleged failure to detect a benefits fraud scheme involving orthotics store Healthy Fit Inc. To date, 10 people — nine former TTC employees and Healthy Fit owner Adam Smith — have been convicted in relation to the scheme. More than 250 TTC employees resigned or retired to avoid dismissal, or were dismissed outright, while an additional 14 were disciplined. “While terms of the settlement are confidential, the TTC is pleased to see this matter resolved in a way that allows both companies to move forward with a renewed commitment to preventing benefits fraud and penalizing those who commit it,” the TTC said in a press release.
Continue reading “Article: Toronto Transit Commission settles benefits fraud lawsuit”

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Release: SHAREHOLDER ALERT Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims on Behalf of Investors of Overstock.com, Inc. – OSTK

Release

SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims on Behalf of Investors of Overstock.com, Inc. – OSTK

11 November 2019

Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Overstock.com, Inc. (“Overstock” or the “Company”) ( OSTK). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether Overstock and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

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Article: Tower Research Capital pays $67m to settle spoofing charges

Article - Media

Tower Research Capital pays $67m to settle spoofing charges

Kadhim Shubber in Washington

Financial Times

Tower Research Capital in $67M settlement for spoofing futures. High-frequency trading firm Tower Research Capital will pay $67.4 million to settle allegations of spoofing by three former traders, the largest settlement to date associated with the illegal activity.

Full text at News.Law.

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Article: Elon Musk wants to send investor ‘short shorts,’ as he battles David Einhorn

Article - Media

Elon Musk wants to send investor ‘short shorts,’ as he battles David Einhorn

DailyMail, 9 November 2019

Elon Musk has offered to send a pair of ‘short shorts’ to his biggest critic and Tesla short seller David Einhorn, after the hedgefund boss was forced to admit to his shareholders that he’s lost money betting against the automaker.

Musk’s jibe came after Einhorn took a swipe at the Tesla owner in a letter to his shareholders last week, in which he claimed that the ‘accepted reality (at Tesla) appears to be that Elon Musk is above the law.’

Paywall Access to Full Article.

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Article: Tesla’s Musk, Greenlight’s Einhorn taunt each other on Twitter

Article - Media

Tesla’s Musk, Greenlight’s Einhorn taunt each other on Twitter

Reuters, 8 November 2019

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and noted short-seller David Einhorn mocked each other in open letters published on Twitter on Friday, trading barbs clothed in polite language.

Einhorn on Oct. 30 had told his investors at Greenlight Capital that his fund had lost money on Tesla. Greenlight bet against the electric carmaker, and shares rose in the second quarter.

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Article: The PSLRA’s Discovery Stay During the Pendency of a Motion To Dismiss Applies in State Court Actions Asserting 1933 Act Claims

Article - Media, Publications

The PSLRA’s Discovery Stay During the Pendency of a Motion To Dismiss Applies in State Court Actions Asserting 1933 Act Claims

Craig S. Waldman ,  08 November 2019

One of the PSLRA’s key procedural protections is the automatic stay of discovery during the pendency of a motion to dismiss. This serves “to protect defendants … from the burden and expense of premature discovery … until the court sustains the sufficiency of the complaint.” ATSI Communications v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 2003 WL 1877227, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. April 2, 2003). “The legislative history of the PSLRA indicates that Congress enacted the discovery stay to prevent plaintiffs from filing securities class actions with the intent of using the discovery process to force a coercive settlement.” In re LaBranche Sec. Litig., 333 F. Supp. 2d 178, 181 (S.D.N.Y. 2004). Congress also aimed “to prevent plaintiffs from … using [a meritless lawsuit] as a vehicle ‘in order to conduct discovery in the hopes of finding a sustainable claim not alleged in the complaint.’” In re Vivendi Universal, S.A. Sec. Litig., 381 F. Supp. 2d 129, 129-30 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (quoting S. Rep. No. 104-98, at 14 (1995)). Continue reading “Article: The PSLRA’s Discovery Stay During the Pendency of a Motion To Dismiss Applies in State Court Actions Asserting 1933 Act Claims”

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Article: London Court Hears £1B Forex-Rigging Case Against Five Banks

Article - Media, Publications

London Court Hears £1B Forex-Rigging Case Against Five Banks

Aziz Abdel-Qader, 05 November 2019

The case accusing Barclays, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS of foreign exchange rigging is scheduled to be heard at London’s tribunal on Wednesday.

The five global banks are facing a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) class-action lawsuit that seeks to compensate pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds, and corporations that lost out because these banks participated in a market manipulation scheme between 2007 and 2013. However, the total value of potential fines will depend on the number of forex trades executed in London, and the proportional impact of rate-rigging on GBP trades. Continue reading “Article: London Court Hears £1B Forex-Rigging Case Against Five Banks”

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Article: Fraser Perring: Chronicles of Deceit, Part I

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Fraser Perring: Chronicles of Deceit, Part I

Roddy Boyd

Foundation for Financial Journalism, 4 November 2019

Forty-six-year-old Fraser Perring, a resident of Lincoln, England, founded and runs Viceroy Research with two other analysts. Their investigations of what they claim are misleading corporate disclosures or flawed business models have regularly sent the stock prices of their targets spiraling downward.

But as revealed by a seven-month investigation by the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation, Perring is a charlatan of the first order, with a brazen multiyear record of personal and professional deceit. It makes one wonder, If Perring is fudging the truth to reporters about houses and cars, what else is he not on the level about? A lot, it turns out.

The first part of this investigation lays out Perring’s erratic and troubling conduct, including some dubious methods to generate interest for his research on stock message boards and his impersonating a well-known hedge fund manager. Part two will examine the real forces backing and benefiting the business model of Perring and many other activist short sellers.

 

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Article: H.C. WAINWRIGHT STICKS TO ITS BUY RATING FOR EKSO BIONICS (EKSO)

Article - Media

H.C. WAINWRIGHT STICKS TO ITS BUY RATING FOR EKSO BIONICS (EKSO)

Catie Powers

Markets.co, 31 October 2019

H.C. Wainwright analyst Swayampakula Ramakanth reiterated a rating on EKSO BIONICS ( – Research Report) today and set a price target of $1.20. The company’s shares closed last Monday at $0.66, close to its 52-week low of $0.48.

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Comment: This company is at risk of collusion between a placement agent and naked short sellers.
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Article: Counter-Strike trading found to be ‘nearly all’ money laundering

Article - Media, Publications

Counter-Strike trading found to be ‘nearly all’ money laundering

Alex Hern,  30 October 2019

The gaming firm Valve has halted trading of some in-game items in its popular multiplayer shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive after discovering that “nearly all” of the trading was part of a money-laundering scheme run by “worldwide fraud networks”.

In CS:GO, players can earn containers with cosmetic items, which can be unlocked using keys bought either in-game or for real money from other players.

Valve said it had closed the market between players, and in patch notes for the latest version of CS:GO – first reported by Motherboard – it gave its reasons. Continue reading “Article: Counter-Strike trading found to be ‘nearly all’ money laundering”

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Article: H.C. Wainwright Starts Ekso Bionics (EKSO) at Buy

Article - Media

H.C. Wainwright Starts Ekso Bionics (EKSO) at Buy

StreetInsider.com, 28 October 2019

H.C. Wainwright analyst Swayampakula Ramakanth initiates coverage on Ekso Bionics (NASDAQ: EKSO) with a Buy rating and a price target of $1.20.

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Comment: This appears to be a stellar example of a life-saving vital technology company being destroyed by collusion between a placement agent and naked short sellers.

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Article: Racketeering Law Makes Its Return to Wall Street

Article - Media

Racketeering Law Makes Its Return to Wall Street

Peter J. Henning

The New York Times 24 October 2019

Prosecutors have not brought a case under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, against Wall Street traders since the investment firm Princeton Newport Partners was indicted in the mid-1980s. The RICO charges filed recently against three traders at JPMorgan Chase indicate that prosecutors may be resurrecting the law to target white-collar defendants.

Prosecutors accused Michael Nowak, who was the head of precious metals trading at the bank, along with Gregg Smith and Christopher Jordan, of organizing the precious metals desk as a RICO enterprise to engage in “spoofing,” as well as wire and bank fraud in which JPMorgan and its customers were the victims

“Spoofing,” which was made a crime by the Dodd-Frank Act, happens when traders are “bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution.”

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Article: Short sellers slammed as Tesla shares surge the most in 6 years

Article - Media

Short sellers slammed as Tesla shares surge the most in 6 years

Kevin Dugan

New York Post, 24 October 2019

Tesla shares are surging — and short sellers are hurting.

Wall Street investors betting against Tesla’s stock got clobbered to the tune of nearly $1.5 billion on Thursday after Elon Musk’s electric-car maker reported a surprise profit, giving the company’s shares their biggest boost in six years.

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