Archive

July 11, 2016

Golden Agri International Pte Ltd., a private limited company formed in Singapore that operates as a processor and trader of crude palm oil, which it hedges with soybean oil futures contracts, agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty to resolve charges that it failed to report its cash positions.  CFTC

July 7, 2016

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a consent order requiring Matthew Marcus of California and his company, Tech Power Inc., a Nevada corporation located in California, to pay a $250,000 penalty for instigating a money pass scheme involving more than 1,200 single stock futures trades.  CFTC

July 6, 2016

Barclays Bank PLC agreed to pay a $560,000 penalty to resolve charges that it failed to submit accurate large trader reports for physical commodity swap positions.  CFTC

June 29, 2016

The CFPB and DOJ took joint action against BancorpSouth Bank for discriminatory mortgage lending practices that harmed African Americans and other minorities.  The complaint alleges BancorpSouth engaged in numerous discriminatory practices, including illegally redlining in Memphis; denying certain African Americans mortgage loans more often than similarly situated non-Hispanic white applicants; charging African-American customers for certain mortgage loans more than non-Hispanic white borrowers with similar loan qualifications; and implementing an explicitly discriminatory loan denial policy. The proposed consent order seeks $4 million in direct loan subsidies in minority neighborhoods in Memphis, at least $800,000 for community programs, advertising, outreach, and credit repair, $2.78 million to African-American consumers who were unlawfully denied or overcharged for loans, and a $3 million penalty.  CFPB

June 20, 2016

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered Harvard Assets LLC, London Assets Inc., and Harvard International Trading, Inc., all based in Florida, and their controlling person, Todd Owen Marshall, with a last known address in Deerfield Beach, Florida, to pay over $2.4 million in disgorgement and penalties for engaging in illegal, off-exchange precious metals transactions and registration violations.  CFTC

June 1, 2016

Maryland-based private equity firm Blackstreet Capital Management and its owner, Marry N. Gunty, will pay $3.1 million to settle charges that they engaged in brokerage activity and charged fees without registering as a broker-dealer and committed other securities law violations.  Blackstreet and Gunty performed in-house brokerage services rather than using investment banks or broker-dealers to handle the acquisition and disposition of portfolio companies for a pair of private equity funds they advise.  Blackstreet fully disclosed that it would provide brokerage services in exchange for a few, but failed to comply with the registration requirements to operate as a broker-dealer.  An SEC investigation further found that Blackstreet and Gunty engaged in conflicted transactions and inadequately disclosed fees and expenses.  SEC

June 3, 2016

The CFTC charged Haena Park and her companies Phaetra Capital GP LLC, a/k/a/ Argenta Capital GP LLC, Phaetra Capital Management LP, a/k/a Argenta Capital LLC, and Argenta Group LLC, for engaging in a $23 million scheme to fraudulently operate a commodity pool and misappropriate pool participants’ assets.  CFTC

June 2, 2016

The CFTC ordered Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange, BFXNA Inc. d/b/a Bitfinex to pay a $75,000 penalty for offering illegal off-exchange financed retail commodity transactions in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and for failing to register as a Futures Commission Merchant.  CFTC

May 26, 2016

The CFTC ordered Cypress Wealth Management, Inc. and its former owners and operators, Ted L. Romeo of Pompano Beach, Florida, and Richard D. Schrutt of Tampa, Florida, to pay over $530,000 in penalties and restitution on charges that they illegally offered off-exchange financed transactions in precious metals to retail customers.  CFTC

May 13, 2016

Buffalo, New York-based M&T Bank Corp agreed to pay $64 million to settle charges it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements.  Specifically, the government alleged that M&T Bank failed to comply with certain FHA origination, underwriting and quality control requirements.  DOJ