Tag: Flotron

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Article: Racketeering Law Makes Its Return to Wall Street

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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: The Government’s New Strategy to Crack Down on ‘Spoofing’

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The Government’s New Strategy to Crack Down on ‘Spoofing’

Peter J. Henning

New York Times, 4 September 2018

The Justice Department has tried to crack down on traders who try to move markets by entering and quickly canceling orders, conduct that goes by the catchy moniker “spoofing.”

But the government’s early prosecution of the crime has faced a big setback. In just the second trial for spoofing, which the Dodd-Frank Act outlawed, a Connecticut jury acquitted a former trader at UBS of spoofing this spring. That raised questions about whether prosecutors can pursue these cases.

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Article: Ex-Deutsche Bank Traders Charged in Expanding Spoofing Probe

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Ex-Deutsche Bank Traders Charged in Expanding Spoofing Probe

Chris Dolmetsch, 25 June 2018

Two former Deutsche Bank AG employees were charged with fraudulent and manipulative trading involving precious metals futures contracts through a practice known as spoofing as a federal probe on illegal market practices continues to widen.

James Vorley, 38, of the U.K., and Cedric Chanu, 39, of France and the United Arab Emirates, were indicted Tuesday for conspiracy and wire fraud by a grand jury in Chicago.

The two men are accused of engaging in a multiyear scheme to defraud other traders on the Commodity Exchange Inc., a venue run by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group. Prosecutors said they worked with another Deutsche Bank trader, David Liew, to place fraudulent orders that they didn’t intend to execute to create a false sense of supply and demand and induce other traders to enter into transactions they wouldn’t have otherwise made.

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Article: Ex-UBS trader beats market manipulation charge

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Ex-UBS trader beats market manipulation charge

New York (AFP), 25 April 2018

Former UBS precious metals trader Andre Flotron was acquitted on Wednesday of market manipulation, a development that could spell trouble for similar cases against other Wall Street traders.

Authorities arrested Flotron late last year on charges he engaged in a Wall Street practice called “spoofing,” which involves placing and then immediately aborting trades to move prices. The acquittal follows January’s $46.6 million settlement with UBS, Deutsche Bank and HSBC over allegations traders at the banks worked to manipulate futures markets in precious metals between 2008 and early 2014.

Before this case, only three other people had ever been charged with “spoofing,” according to the Justice Department, a practice banned under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation. Continue reading “Article: Ex-UBS trader beats market manipulation charge”

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Article: US fines Deutsche Bank, UBS and HSBC over market manipulation

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US fines Deutsche Bank, UBS and HSBC over market manipulation

Agence France-Presse, 30 January 2018

US authorities on Monday announced fines and charges against three major European banks and eight individuals accused of manipulating futures markets for precious metals.

Deutsche Bank, UBS and HSBC will together pay a total of $46.6 million to settle allegations that traders at the banks worked to manipulate futures markets in precious metals through a process known as “spoofing,” the Justice Department and Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.Seven former traders, including ex-UBS trader Andre Flotron, who was indicted last year, as well as a technology consultant, also face charges of “spoofing” — in which traders place and then abort trades to manipulate prices — on markets for various precious metals including gold and silver between early 2008 and about 2014. Continue reading “Article: US fines Deutsche Bank, UBS and HSBC over market manipulation”

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Article: Federal Charges Filed in Price ‘Spoofing’ Inquiry on Wall St.

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Federal Charges Filed in Price ‘Spoofing’ Inquiry on Wall St.

Emily Flitter

New York Times, 29 January 2018

Federal authorities have filed civil and criminal charges against a group of Wall Street banks and individuals that they say tried to manipulate markets in gold, silver and certain financial products, including by showing potential customers fake prices.

The actions, filed over the past several days, are part of a yearslong effort by financial regulators and the Department of Justice to stamp out behavior that gives the biggest banks an advantage over smaller market players.

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Article: Deutsche Bank hit with spoofing fine by US Justice Department

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Deutsche Bank hit with spoofing fine by US Justice Department

Deutsche Welle, 29 January 2018

US authorities have fined Deutsche Bank and two other European finance institutions for manipulating markets. Germany warned its best-known bank not to overdo bonuses — it’d be bad for its already soured image. Continue reading “Article: Deutsche Bank hit with spoofing fine by US Justice Department”

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