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Article: Taiwan allows Cargill to repatriate $2 billion frozen in currency speculation case: sources

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Taiwan allows Cargill to repatriate $2 billion frozen in currency speculation case: sources

Ben Blanchard, 29 March 2021

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s central bank has allowed U.S.-based commodities house Cargill Ltd to repatriate around $2 billion that had been frozen as part of an investigation into currency manipulation, four people with direct knowledge told Reuters.

The central bank last month punished four foreign banks, including Deutsche Bank for helping grains firms speculate in the deliverable forwards foreign exchange market, as it moved to slow the Taiwan dollar’s rise.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorised to speak to journalists, sources told Reuters that Cargill was one of the main grains companies involved. The central bank has not named Cargill in its communications on the matter. Continue reading “Article: Taiwan allows Cargill to repatriate $2 billion frozen in currency speculation case: sources”

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Article: Former Glencore oil trader pleads guilty to market manipulation charges

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Former Glencore oil trader pleads guilty to market manipulation charges

Chris Prentice,  29 March 2021

A former Glencore Plc fuel oil trader pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $100,000 to settle charges of market manipulation of a key U.S. pricing benchmark, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.

Emilio José Heredia Collado admitted to a multiyear conspiracy to manipulate the fuel oil market, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Heredia agreed to a lifetime ban and a civil penalty of $100,000 to settle parallel charges filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

From as early as June 2012 to at least August 2016, Heredia and others at Glencore sought to boost their profits from oil trading by manipulating prices, U.S. officials said.

A Glencore spokesperson said the firm is cooperating with the ongoing investigation.

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Article: Why Is It Moving? Looking Into Why SeaChange International’s Stock is Trading Higher Today

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Why Is It Moving? Looking Into Why SeaChange International’s Stock is Trading Higher Today

Erin Clark,  29 March 2021

Hong Kong Is Set to Target First SPAC Listing by End of Year

(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong is expected to have its own blank check company listing framework ready in June for public feedback and targets allowing deals to start by the end of this year, according to people familiar with the matter.The city is looking at tighter rules for sponsors of special purpose acquisition company listings and their buy-out targets than those enforced in the U.S., said the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal deliberations. Continue reading “Article: Why Is It Moving? Looking Into Why SeaChange International’s Stock is Trading Higher Today”

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Article: Banking Stocks Credit Suisse, Nomura Reeling From Archegos Hedge Fund Fire Sale

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Banking Stocks Credit Suisse, Nomura Reeling From Archegos Hedge Fund Fire Sale

ADELIA CELLINI LINECKER,  29 March 2021

Investment banks Nomura (NMR), Credit Suisse (CS) and possibly others are on the hook for billions of dollars in losses as Archegos Capital Management hedge fund was forced to dump more shares Monday to meet liquidity minimums. Nomura and Credit Suisse stocks plunged more than 10%.

Among the companies affected by the fire sale that started last week are ViacomCBS (VIAC) and Discovery Communications (DISCA). Their shares sank more than 25% on Friday.

Archegos has sold nearly $30 billion in shares so far to meet a margin call. A broker makes a margin call to require a client to add funds to its account if the value of it drops below a certain level. The client, in this case Archegos, has to liquidate investments to meet that requirement. Continue reading “Article: Banking Stocks Credit Suisse, Nomura Reeling From Archegos Hedge Fund Fire Sale”

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Article: How Goldman And Other Wall Street Giants Loaned Billions To Someone Who Traded Like A Meme Stock Gambler

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How Goldman And Other Wall Street Giants Loaned Billions To Someone Who Traded Like A Meme Stock Gambler

Kevin Dowd,  29 March 2021

Imagine if Goldman Sachs GS -0.5% lent a billion dollars to RoaringKitty.

News about margin calls is once again roiling markets. Except this time, instead of industry outsiders like Robinhood and RoaringKitty, a leading GameStop bull on WallStreetBets subreddit, the drama centers on traditional giants of the financial establishment. Continue reading “Article: How Goldman And Other Wall Street Giants Loaned Billions To Someone Who Traded Like A Meme Stock Gambler”

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Article: Las Vegas Sands probes potential money-laundering breaches at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands casino

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Las Vegas Sands probes potential money-laundering breaches at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands casino

Bloomberg,  29 March 2021

Las Vegas Sands Corp. set up a special committee to look into potential breaches of anti-money-laundering procedures at its Singapore casino, which has already been the target of probes by US officials and local police.

The committee of three independent board members is reviewing money transfers among high rollers and third parties at Marina Bay Sands, as well as any possible retaliation against whistle-blowers, according to people familiar with the matter.

US law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP has been hired to assist with the review, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because of the confidentiality involved. Las Vegas Sands declined to comment. Continue reading “Article: Las Vegas Sands probes potential money-laundering breaches at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands casino”

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Article: Citibank Faces New Forex Rigging Suit From Currency Trader

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Citibank Faces New Forex Rigging Suit From Currency Trader

Joanne Faulkner, 29 March 2021

Citibank has become the latest bank to be sued by a British currency investment firm over allegations that its traders manipulated foreign exchange markets for profit, in the expanding litigation accusing the company of trade front-running.

ECU Group PLC alleges in an amended March 10 High Court claim, which was recently made public, that traders at Citibank NA misused its confidential information to make secret profits. They allegedly traded ahead of forex transactions by ECU clients, an illegal tactic known as front-running. Continue reading “Article: Citibank Faces New Forex Rigging Suit From Currency Trader”

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Article: FinCEN’s $390 Million Case Against Capital One – And What It Means For AML Enforcement

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FinCEN’s $390 Million Case Against Capital One – And What It Means For AML Enforcement

Seetha Ramachandran and Hena Vora,  29 March 2021

As the financial services industry prepares for expanded criminal and civil enforcement under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) with the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, FinCEN’s recent case against Capital One shows how FinCEN’s approach to AML enforcement is evolving.

On January 15, 2021, FinCEN assessed a $390 million civil money penalties against Capital One for violations of the BSA related to Capital One’s Check Cashing Group (the “CCG”). CCG is a business unit under Capital One’s commercial bank through which Capital One provides banking services including processing checks and providing customers with armored car cash shipments. In issuing its decision, FinCEN determined that, between 2008 and 2014, Capital One’s CCG failed to report millions of dollars in suspicious transactions. Specifically, FinCEN found that Capital One: Continue reading “Article: FinCEN’s $390 Million Case Against Capital One – And What It Means For AML Enforcement”

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Article: Former Mexican politician pleads guilty to money laundering in Texas

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Former Mexican politician pleads guilty to money laundering in Texas

Karly Williams,  28 March 2021

In a high-profile case that dragged on for years as he avoided arrest by both U.S. and Mexican authorities, the former governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas has pled guilty to one count of money laundering.
More of the unregistered stock offerings were said to be managed by Morgan Stanley, according to people familiar with the matter, on behalf of one or more undisclosed shareholders. Some of the trades exceeded $1 billion in individual companies, calculations based on Bloomberg data show.

Tomás Yarrington Ruvalcaba entered a guilty plea in court Thursday, eight years after he was hit with a 53-page indictment, as reported by Jason Buch of the San Antonio Express-News.

The U.S. government accused Yarrington of taking bribes from the Zetas drug cartel while he was in office, actively taking part in their drug trafficking operations and laundering bribe money in the United States. Continue reading “Article: Former Mexican politician pleads guilty to money laundering in Texas”

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Article: Hedge Fund CIO: “Sinners Have Become The System And Will Be Eternally Supported By Policy”

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Hedge Fund CIO: “Sinners Have Become The System And Will Be Eternally Supported By Policy”

TYLER DURDEN,  28 March 2021

“At some point on the current path, policy makers will attempt to normalize,” said the CIO. We were discussing sequencing, recognizing its centrality to macro trading, investing. “They will start by attempting to taper Fed purchases,” he said, the US central bank currently creating $120bln per month and using it to purchase debt. “Perhaps they signal that they intend to lower the deficit.” But of course, that would only be after they first lift the deficit to fund America’s coming $3trln Recovery Plan. “And at that point, the clock starts ticking,” he said.

“Even if one thinks the current policy path inevitably leads to a substantial inflation, there are enough orthodox policy makers that we can be confident they’ll try to avert that outcome,” continued the same CIO. “So what we need to figure out is how far they’ll let stocks and inflation run before they’re compelled to taper,” he said. “And then we’ll need to judge how long it will take for the economy and/or market to take a deep dive.” Not long. “When they then quickly pivot and aggressively ease, their predicament will be clear for all to see.” Continue reading “Article: Hedge Fund CIO: “Sinners Have Become The System And Will Be Eternally Supported By Policy””

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Article: The Firm Behind The $30 Billion Firesale Shaking Financial Markets Disclosed Almost Nothing

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The Firm Behind The $30 Billion Firesale Shaking Financial Markets Disclosed Almost Nothing

Antoine Gara,  28 March 2021

Up until recently, the website of Archegos Capital Management, the firm behind a reported $30 billion financial firesale that is battering stocks worldwide, contained a giant image of Central Park. The vista displayed on Archegos’ webpage was a fitting homage to the views of its offices atop a Manhattan skyscraper on 57th street, until the site was taken down as the firm gets liquidated.

Archegos was a giant in U.S. financial markets, apparently holding tens of billions of dollars in securities, including massive exposures to companies like ViacomCBS, Discovery Communications and Baidu. It traded with Wall Street’s largest brokerages, and was headquartered at an expensive address housing many powerhouse investment firms. But when it came to routine financial disclosures, Archegos was virtually non-existent.

Forbes searched for a trace of Archegos on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s repository for securities filings, called EDGAR, short for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval. Amazingly, almost nothing came up. Continue reading “Article: The Firm Behind The $30 Billion Firesale Shaking Financial Markets Disclosed Almost Nothing”

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Article: Supreme Court to decide whether Goldman Sachs shareholders can bring suit in major fraud case

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Supreme Court to decide whether Goldman Sachs shareholders can bring suit in major fraud case

Tucker Higgins, 28 March 2021

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments from Goldman Sachs in a long-running case that could have major implications for shareholders seeking to bring securities-fraud lawsuits.

Arguments are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET Monday and will be streamed live as the court continues to meet remotely as a precaution against Covid-19.

The case, which dates to the Great Recession, concerns statements that the investment bank made while it was marketing “Abacus,” an investment known as a synthetic collateralized debt obligation. Continue reading “Article: Supreme Court to decide whether Goldman Sachs shareholders can bring suit in major fraud case”

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Article: AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran bank deposits, assets

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AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran bank deposits, assets

Gigie Arcilla,  28 March 2021

MANILA – The Anti-Money Laundering Council issued a freeze order on the bank deposits and assets of a religious group’s center allegedly used to finance or support terrorism.

In a Resolution No. TF-36 dated March 12, 2021, the AMLC order covers the three bank accounts of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines’ (UCCP) Haran Center with the Philippine National Bank amounting to more or less PHP600,000, and a real property under the name of Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc.

The freeze order stemmed from the AMLC’s investigation that the assets are used to finance terrorism in violation of Republic Act 10168 otherwise known as The Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.

The UCCP Haran Center located on Fr. Selga Street, Madapo Hills, Bankerohan, Davao City, Davao del Sur, has become a sanctuary for beleaguered indigenous peoples (IP) in Mindanao. Continue reading “Article: AMLC orders freeze of UCCP Haran bank deposits, assets”

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Article: Archegos Fallout Begins: Nomura Crashes 15% After Reporting Record $2BN Loss From “Transactions With US Client”

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Archegos Fallout Begins: Nomura Crashes 15% After Reporting Record $2BN Loss From “Transactions With US Client”

TYLER DURDEN,  28 March 2021

(Bloomberg) — Back in May 2016, Japanese mega-bank Nomura, announced that it had suffered its biggest-ever loss in history (of a rather tame by Western standards $40 million) from a single client, and which it then quickly blamed on an “incompetent” bond trader. Fast forward to today, when Nomura just suffered a far, far greater loss from a single client, this one is anything but boring.

Early on Monday local time, Nomura Holdings said it may have incurred a “significant loss” arising from transactions with a U.S. client.

The estimated amount of the claim against the client is about $2 billion based on market prices as of March 26, the Japanese brokerage said in a statement. The estimate is “subject to change depending on unwinding of the transactions and fluctuations in market prices.” Continue reading “Article: Archegos Fallout Begins: Nomura Crashes 15% After Reporting Record $2BN Loss From “Transactions With US Client””