The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is suing 3RedTrading LLC and its owner Chicago broker Igor Oystracher for allegedly engaging in spoofing on some of the largest exchanges in the world. The spoofing purportedly took place over 51 trading days between 12/11 and 1/14 on the Chicago Board Options Exchange,…
Cash Flow Financial Embroiled in Commodity Pool Ponzi Scam The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that Cash Flow Financial LLC, Alan James Watson, and Michael S. Potts will pay over $91.9 million for their involvement in a commodity pool Ponzi scam. The regulator claims that the defendants fraudulently solicited…
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has submitted a civil injunctive enforcement action against Guardian Asset group LLC and its owner Andrew Kurzbard. The regulator claims the defendants took part in illegal-off-exchange transactions involving precious metals. The transactions purportedly involved retail customers and took place on a financed, margined, or…
According to The Wall Street Journal, sources say that the CFTC is probing into whether J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) engaged in product steering by inappropriately directing private banking clients to its own hedge funds. Its investigation is also scrutinizing Highbridge Capital Management LLC, which is owned by the bank. The…
According to a report by German financial regulator BaFin, senior management at Deutsche Bank (DB) allegedly behaved “negligently” related to the rigging of Libor rates. The European regulator has been investigating the bank over its possible involvement in the manipulation of the inter-bank rate setting process. The BaFin report contends…
Financial firm Deutsche Bank (DB) will pay a $2.5 billion fine to regulators in the United States and Britain for its involvement in rate rigging. The German lender also will fire seven of its employees. This is the largest penalty to date against a financial institution over allegations of benchmark…
Almost five years after the 20-minute Flash Crash when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 600 points and then quickly rebounded, the U.S. Department of Justice has arrested trader Navinder Singh Sarao. He is accused of allegedly playing a major part in the brief turmoil because of his involvement…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York says that Mark Evan Bloom and his North Hills Management, LLC (NHM) must together pay a $26 million civil penalty for running North Hills LP, a fraudulent commodity pool, and misappropriating customer monies. It was in June 2010 that…
A district court issued a Consent Order placing a permanent injunction against the U.S. Bank National Association and mandating that the bank return $18 million to customers of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc. customers. US Bank has offices in Iowa where Peregrine, a non-bank, nonclearing FCM (Futures Commission Merchant), and its…
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has launched CFTC SmartCheck. The site gives consumers information about financial fraud. It links to The Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR product registration database and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s BrokerCheck system, as well as to the National Futures Association. For the first time the…