Archive

August 2, 2017

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Joe Yiu Cheung has agreed to pay nearly $800,000 and be permanently barred from involvement in penny stocks after hiding his significant stake in a small oil & gas company while secretly funding a fraudulent promotional campaign that artificially boosted the company’s stock price before he dumped his shares. SEC enforcement investigators uncovered the fraud by peeling back layer upon layer of shell companies and nominee owners to reveal that Joe Yiu Cheung controlled United American Petroleum Corp. (UAPC).  According to the SEC’s order, Cheung utilized an elaborate network of overseas bank and brokerage accounts mostly in bank secrecy jurisdictions to conceal his UAPC ownership.  In addition, he did not file required reports that would have publicly disclosed his burgeoning ownership of UAPC stock.  Cheung paid for the issuance of promotional materials to 2.2 million U.S. residents, inducing investors with rosy falsehoods about UAPC’s operations and prospects. SEC

October 23, 2017

Mark Johnson, former head of global foreign exchange cash trading at HSBC Bank, was found guilty for his role in a scheme to defraud an HSBC client through a multimillion-dollar scheme commonly referred to as “front running.”  DOJ

November 14, 2017

– The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an order filing and settling charges against FCStone Merchant Services LLC (FCStone Merchant) for entering into multiple noncompetitive trades and against INTL FCStone Financial Inc. (FCStone Financial), a registered Futures Commission Merchant based in Chicago, Illinois, for reporting non-bona fide prices to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) between December 2013 and March 2014. The CFTC Order also finds that FCStone Financial failed to have an adequate supervisory system in place with regard to the execution, handling, and reporting of exchange for related position transactions (EFRPs). The CFTC Order requires FCStone Financial and FCStone Merchant, jointly and severally, to pay a $280,000 civil monetary penalty, to comply with certain undertakings regarding their respective practices regarding EFRPs, and to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC Regulations, as charged. CFTC

November 14, 2017

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against Statoil ASA (Statoil), an international energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. The CFTC Order finds that from as early as October 2011 through November 2011, Statoil attempted to manipulate the Argus Far East Index (FEI) in order to benefit Statoil’s physical and financial positions, including Statoil’s NYMEX-cleared over-the-counter swaps which settled to the Argus FEI. The Order requires Statoil to pay a $4 million civil monetary penalty and orders Statoil to cease and desist from violating Section 9(a)(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). CFTC

November 6, 2017

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the filing and simultaneous settlement of charges against Cargill, Inc. (Cargill), of Minnesota, for providing mid-market marks (marks) that concealed from counterparties and its swap data repository (SDR) its full mark-up on certain swaps, in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and Commission Regulations. Specifically, the CFTC Order finds that Cargill provided counterparties and the SDR inaccurate marks which had the effect of concealing up to ninety percent of Cargill’s mark-up. Cargill also failed to diligently supervise its employees in connection with these inaccurate marks, and in connection with inaccurate statements made to swap counterparties. In particular, the CFTC Order finds that Cargill provided marks that concealed its full mark-up because of a concern that providing accurate marks would reduce Cargill’s revenue. The CFTC Order requires Cargill to pay a $10 million civil monetary penalty, cease and desist from violating Section 4s(h)(1) of the CEA and Commission Regulations 23.431(a) and (d), 45.4(d)(2), and 166.3, as charged, and comply with certain remedial undertakings. CFTC

October 10, 2017

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against Arab Global Commodities DMCC (AGC), a proprietary trading firm headquartered in Dubai, with several trading offices in India, for engaging in the disruptive trading practice of “spoofing” in the copper futures contract traded on the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX) between March and August 2016. The CFTC Order finds that AGC engaged in this activity through one of its employees (Trader A), who generally spoofed after business hours, when Trader A traded from home. The Order requires AGC to pay a $300,000 civil monetary penalty and to cease and desist from violating the Commodity Exchange Act’s prohibition against spoofing. CFTC

August 15, 2017

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against Copersucar Trading A.V.V. (Copersucar), an Aruban corporation and a subsidiary of Copersucar S.A., the world’s largest sugar and ethanol company, based in São Paolo, Brazil, for executing prearranged, noncompetitive wash trades involving Sugar No. 11 futures Trade at Settlement (TAS) contracts traded on ICE Futures U.S., Inc. (ICE), a designated contract market. The Order requires that Copersucar pay a $300,000 civil monetary penalty. CFTC

August 7, 2017

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) for engaging in multiple acts of spoofing in a variety of futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, including futures contracts based on United States treasury notes and Eurodollars. The Order finds that BTMU engaged in this activity through one of its employees (Trader A), who accessed these markets through a trading platform from one of BTMU’s Tokyo offices. The Order requires BTMU to pay a $600,000 civil monetary penalty and to cease and desist from violating the Commodity Exchange Act’s prohibition against spoofing. The CFTC became aware of the conduct through BTMU’s voluntary self-reporting of the wrongdoing. CFTC

June 22, 2017

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced additional charges in an enforcement investigation involving the improper handling of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) by a Wall Street firm’s securities lending desk. The SEC’s order finds supervisory failures by Anthony Portelli, a former managing director and head of operations at broker-dealer ITG Inc.  Portelli supervised ITG’s securities lending operations and was responsible for the firm’s compliance with “pre-release agreements” for ADR transactions.  ADRs are U.S. securities that represent foreign shares of a foreign company.  Before obtaining a “pre-released ADR” to lend to a customer, brokers like ITG must own, or determine that a customer owns, the number of foreign shares that corresponds to the number of shares the ADR represents.  Under Portelli’s watch, personnel on ITG’s securities lending desk failed to take reasonable steps to determine whether the proper amounts of foreign shares were owned and held by ITG’s customers.  This failure opened up the possibility that the ADRs could be used improperly for short selling or dividend arbitrage. SEC

June 5, 2017

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged  a Salt Lake City-based brokerage firm with securities law violations related to its alleged practice of clearing transactions for microcap stocks that were used in manipulative schemes to harm investors. To help detect potential securities law and money laundering violations, broker-dealers are required to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that describe suspicious transactions that take place through their firms.  The SEC’s complaint alleges that Alpine Securities Corporation routinely and systematically failed to file SARs for stock transactions that it flagged as suspicious.  When it did file SARs, Alpine Securities allegedly frequently omitted the very information that formed the bases for Alpine knowing, suspecting, or having reason to suspect that a transaction was suspicious.  As noted in the complaint, guidance for preparing SARs from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) clearly states that “[e]xplaining why the transaction is suspicious is critical.” SEC