Article: Big Oil’s Secret World of Trading

Article - Media, Publications

Big Oil’s Secret World of Trading

Javier Blas and Jack Farchy, 30 March 2021

It was a bleak moment for the oil industry. U.S. shale companies were failing by the dozen. Petrostates were on the brink of bankruptcy. Texas roughnecks and Kuwaiti princes alike had watched helplessly for months as the commodity that was their lifeblood tumbled to prices that had until recently seemed unthinkable. Below $50 a barrel, then below $40, then below $30.

But inside the central London headquarters of one of the world’s largest oil companies, there was an air of calm. It was January 2016. Bob Dudley had been at the helm of BP Plc for six years. He ought to have had as much reason to panic as anyone in the rest of his industry. The unflashy American had been predicting lower prices for months. He was being proved right, though that was hardly a reason to celebrate. Continue reading “Article: Big Oil’s Secret World of Trading”

Article: Merrill Lynch Traders Can’t Avoid Spoofing, Fraud Charges

Article - Media

Merrill Lynch Traders Can’t Avoid Spoofing, Fraud Charges

Law360, 21 May 2020

The government’s June 2018 indictment says the traders’ scheme between June 2009 and October 2014 created the illusion of market movement by using large orders to inflate the price, with no intention of filling the orders, thus committing wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud.

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