Archive

March 19, 2015

Bank of New York Mellon agreed to pay $714 million to settle charges the bank engaged in fraud and other misconduct when providing foreign exchange (“FX”) services to its customers. As part of the settlements with the US and New York, BNYM admitted that contrary to representations to clients that it provided “best rates” and “best execution” for FX transactions, the Bank actually gave clients the worst reported interbank rates of the trading day. The charges originated in a lawsuit brought by a whistleblower under the New York False Claims Act.

March 16, 2015

The CFTC ordered ICE Futures U.S. Inc. to pay $3 million in civil penalties for recurring data reporting violations. CFTC

February 11, 2015

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane announced Advance America will pay Pennsylvania consumers $8M in restitution as part of a settlement to resolve claims the company illegally provided payday loans, some with interest rates as high as 368 percent. PA

February 5, 2015

The CFTC ordered Isaiah Goldman and Brock Catronio, individually, and their companies, Paramount Metals Exchange, LLC and Paramount Credit, LLC, both of Delray Beach, Florida, to pay over $2.5 million in sanctions for engaging in illegal, off-exchange precious metals transactions.  CFTC

February 4, 2015

The CFTC ordered Brian S. Ekasala, a resident of Lake Worth, Florida, and his company, Midwest Metals Exchange, LLC, to pay over $500,000 for engaging in an illegal, off-exchange precious metals transaction scheme.  CFTC

January 26, 2015

The CFTC ordered Anthony Lauria and his company, Gold Coast Bullion, Inc. to pay more than $9.6 million to settle charges of engaging in an illegal, off-exchange precious metals scheme and for committing fraud in connection with those illegal transactions.  CFTC

January 21, 2015

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman joined the SEC and the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General in announcing a settlement with Standard and Poor’s Financial Services LLC regarding false and misleading statements made by S&P in connection with its rating of certain Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS). According to the government, from February 2011 to July 2011, S&P loosened the criteria it applied to rate eight CMBS, failed to disclose this fact to investors, and misled market participants into thinking the ratings for their investments were based on more conservative assumptions than was actually the case. Under the settlement, New York will receive $12M in penalties, Massachussetts will receive $7M in penalties, and the SEC will receive $35M in penalties as well as $7M in disgorgement and interest. The SEC also resolved two other matters related to S&P bringing the total government recovery to nearly $80M. NY

January 16, 2015

The CFTC ordered Summit Energy Services, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Louisville, Kentucky, to pay a $140,000 civil monetary penalty for acting as an unregistered commodity trading advisor.  CFTC

January 16, 2015

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Citi, and Wells Fargo Bank agreed to pay $2.7M million and undertake obligations to facilitate the repair of defective property titles, resolving claims they violated Massachusetts foreclosure law and the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act by illegally foreclosing upon Massachusetts residents’ homes when the banks lacked the legal authority to do so. MA

December 24, 2014

MF Global Holdings Ltd. must pay $1.212 billion in restitution (or such amount as necessary to ensure that claims of customers of its subsidiary, MF Global Inc. are paid in full). The CFTC previously filed and settled charges against MFGI for misuse of customer funds and related supervisory failures in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulations. CFTC