Tag: Bank of America

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Article: Pandemic May Disrupt Discovery In Credit Suisse Forex Case

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Pandemic May Disrupt Discovery In Credit Suisse Forex Case

Dean Seal, 17 April 2020

Counsel for investors and Credit Suisse cited the COVID-19 pandemic Monday when they asked a New York federal judge to push their discovery deadlines in a suit over alleged foreign exchange market manipulation by nine weeks.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield, attorneys for both sides in the long-running litigation said that in light of the threat to public health posed by the novel coronavirus, as well as the disruptions it has caused in air travel, continued discovery efforts would be risky and exceedingly difficult. Continue reading “Article: Pandemic May Disrupt Discovery In Credit Suisse Forex Case”

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Article: Bank of America Eroded U.S. Spoof Case, Laying Path for JPMorgan

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Bank of America Eroded U.S. Spoof Case, Laying Path for JPMorgan

Tom Schoenberg

Bloomberg, 20 February 2020

Bank of America Corp.’s lawyers came through big for their client last year when they whittled down a U.S. case over precious metals spoofing.

Justice Department prosecutors wanted to bring criminal charges, but bank lawyers asked for none and prevailed. Prosecutors named Bank of America throughout the draft settlement document but not in the final version.

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Article: For traders who spoofed market years ago, a new ruling spells trouble

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For traders who spoofed market years ago, a new ruling spells trouble

Bloomberg, 25 May 2020

US prosecutors are starting to build cases against traders suspected of manipulating markets as long as a decade ago, after an obscure legal ruling extended the statute of limitations for spoofing cases.

In October, the judge presiding over the impending trial of two former metals traders ruled that the US government can pursue charges of wire fraud as well as spoofing against the pair. The decision addressed a long-running legal debate about whether the placing of electronic market orders with the intention of cancelling them constituted a form of “false representation” and therefore fraud.

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Article: South Africa should restrict rand access for offending foreign banks

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South Africa should restrict rand access for offending foreign banks

David Whitehouse, 19 December 2019

A call from South Africa’s competition regulator to be given extra-territorial powers to prosecute foreign banks whose actions affect South Africans has drawn short shrift from investors.

After an investigation into alleged collusion by 23 banks, ten of which have no presence in South Africa, to co-ordinate on spot dollar and rand prices, the Competition Commission recommended fines totalling 10% of the banks’ global revenues.

The banks involved, which include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse, argue that the case should be dropped. The country’s Competition Tribunal in July ruled that the commission had no jurisdiction to impose the fines. Continue reading “Article: South Africa should restrict rand access for offending foreign banks”

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Article: These Are the Banks that Own the New York Fed and Its Money Button

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These Are the Banks that Own the New York Fed and Its Money Button

Pam Martens, Russ Martens

Wall Street on Parade, 20 November 2019

The New York Fed has now pumped out upwards of $3 trillion in a period of 63 days to unnamed trading houses on Wall Street to ease a liquidity crisis that has yet to be credibly explained. In addition, it has launched a new asset purchase program, buying up $60 billion each month in U.S. Treasury bills. Based on the continuing escalation of its plans, it appears to be testing the limits of what the public will tolerate. We thought it was time to answer the question: who exactly owns the New York Fed and its magical money spigot that can pump trillions of dollars into Wall Street at the press of a button.

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Article: Lawyers Line Up to Sue Merrill Lynch for Alleged Deceptive Trading Practices in Commodities

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Lawyers Line Up to Sue Merrill Lynch for Alleged Deceptive Trading Practices in Commodities

Miriam Rozen

29 July 2019

Join the queue if you are a plaintiff lawyer considering filing a proposed class action lawsuit against Merrill Lynch’s parent company, Bank of America, related to allegations of deceptive trading practices in the commodities markets.

Multiple plaintiff lawyers filed at least three such lawsuits in recent weeks after federal prosecutors secured a June 25 deal with another BofA unit, Merrill Lynch Commodities, to pay $25 million to resolve their investigation into alleged deceptive trading practices.

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Article: BofA Merrill Lynch Branch in Seoul Fined for High-frequency Trading

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BofA Merrill Lynch Branch in Seoul Fined for High-frequency Trading

Yoon Young-sil

Business Korea, 17 July 2019

Korea Exchange (KRX) has decided to impose a 175 million won (US$148,495) fine on Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s South Korean unit for violating its trading rules. Merrill Lynch’s Seoul branch reportedly served as a trading channel for U.S.-based Citadel Securities and has been suspected of disrupting the market through high-frequency algorithm trading on the KOSDAQ market.

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Article: Merrill Lynch fined by Seoul authority for profiteering from spoofing

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Merrill Lynch fined by Seoul authority for profiteering from spoofing

Chung Seung-hwan, Choi Mira

Pulse, 17 July 2019

South Korea’s stock exchange authority Korea Exchange (KRX) slapped a fine of 175 million won ($148,242) on U.S. brokerage Bank of America Merrill Lynch for violating domestic rules and distorting market through algorithmic high-frequency spoofing.

Merrill Lynch has been accused of abetting 6,200 spoofing activities while handling 80 trillion won worth deals commissioned by American hedge fund Citadel Securities from October 2017 to May 2018. Over the period, Citadel was found to have profiteered about 220 billion won, according to KRX.

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Article: Chat room messages are ‘smoking gun’ in $25 million Merrill CFTC spoofing penalty

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Chat room messages are ‘smoking gun’ in $25 million Merrill CFTC spoofing penalty

Todd Ehret

Reuters, 17 July 2019

The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last month chalked up another impressive settlement over the market manipulation tactic known as “spoofing.” The $25 million penalty for Merrill Lynch Commodities in the case is the second largest related to spoofing.

Like many of the prior cases, where the firms cooperated with the investigations and were given credit for doing so, the proverbial “smoking gun” in the case was the record of online chat rooms where traders discussed markets, prices, and their strategies and actions.

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Article: Bank Of America, Morgan Stanley Again Accused Of Spoofing

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Bank Of America, Morgan Stanley Again Accused Of Spoofing

Rachel Graf

Law360, 12 July 2019

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Bank of America Corp. and its subsidiary Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc. engaged in spoofing in an effort to manipulate precious metals futures, according to a proposed class action filed Friday in New York federal court.

Three New York investors claim the banks, two former Merrill Lynch traders and 18 unnamed individual defendants manipulated gold, silver, platinum and palladium futures through a spoofing scheme in which they placed buy or sell orders that they intended to cancel. The practice simulates supply or demand, allegedly allowing the banks to profit from the swings in prices.

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Article: Catch of the Week — Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc.

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Catch of the Week — Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc.

CONSTANTINE CANNON, 28 June 2019

Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc (“Merrill”), a commodity trading subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation, agreed on June 25th to two $25 million settlements with both the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) to resolve allegations it conducted deceptive trading practices in United States commodities markets. Continue reading “Article: Catch of the Week — Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc.”

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Article: Merrill Lynch to pay $25M to settle metals ‘spoofing’ claims

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Merrill Lynch to pay $25M to settle metals ‘spoofing’ claims

Jaclyn Jaeger, 27 June 2019

Merrill Lynch Commodities, a global commodities trading business, will pay a combined $25 million in criminal fines, restitution, and forfeiture of trading profits to resolve a government investigation into a multi-year scheme to mislead the market for precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange, the Department of Justice announced.

According to MLCI’s admissions, from 2008 through 2014, precious metals traders employed by MLCI schemed to deceive other market participants with materially false and misleading information. 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: Merrill Lynch to pay $25M to settle metals ‘spoofing’ claims”

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

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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”

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