The CFTC reports that it has simultaneously filed and settled charges against Chicago-based Rosenthal Collins Capital Markets (now known as DV Trading), and one of its former traders. RCCM is accused of “engaging in illegal wash sales in order to generate rebates of exchange fees based upon increased trading volumes,” according to the CFTC, which… Read More >>
SEC Charges Ex-Ops Head at ITG in ADR Case
The SEC reports additional charges in an enforcement investigation involving the improper handling of American depositary receipts (ADRs) by a former supervisor at broker-dealer ITG Inc.’s securities lending desk. The SEC investigation alleges that Anthony Portelli, ITG’s former managing director and head of operations, who ran ITG’s securities lending operations and was responsible for the… Read More >>
Deutsche Bank Bolsters Anti-Financial Crime Staff
Deutsche Bank Names Head & Deputy of Anti-Financial Crime for the Americas Deutsche Bank has appointed Richard Weber as managing director and head of anti-financial crime for the Americas and Irwin Nack as managing director and deputy head of anti-financial crime for the Americas. Weber will report to Philippe Vollot, global head of anti-financial crime… Read More >>
Supreme Court Curtails SEC’s Disgorgement Power
The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the SEC must rein in its disgorgement policy and apply a new, five-year statute of limitations upon its efforts to retrieve restitution for alleged ill-gotten gains. The disgorgement process is the repayment of money allegedly obtained via illegal activity. In cases large and small, the SEC has… Read More >>
Four Arrested in Medicare Info Insider Trading Scheme
The SEC has reported civil charges — and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed criminal charges — in an alleged insider trading scheme involving “tips of nonpublic information about government plans to cut Medicare reimbursement rates, which affected the stock prices of certain publicly traded medical providers or suppliers.” The four alleged participants… Read More >>
Ex-Nomura Traders Charged with Lying to Customers
The SEC has charged a pair of former head traders at Nomura Securities International with “deliberately lying to customers” to inflate the profits of the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) desk in New York and allegedly line their own pockets. The SEC alleges that James Im and Kee Chan, who ran the CMBS desk, “each misrepresented… Read More >>
Eaton Vance Portfolio Manager Charged with Fraud
The SEC reports placing fraud charges against a Massachusetts-based portfolio manager accused of moving $1.95 million to his personal brokerage account from a fund that he was overseeing. That portfolio manager, Kevin J. Amell, has also pled guilty to one federal criminal count of securities fraud in the same matter, but he has not yet… Read More >>
CFTC Charges Firm with Commodity Pool Ponzi Scheme
CFTC officials report that they have filed a civil enforcement action charging Robert Leland Johnson IV and Marisa Elena Johnson, both of Chino, Calif., with “commodity futures fraud; off-exchange, leveraged or margined retail foreign currency (forex) fraud; [and] commodity pool fraud.” In addition, the CFTC charges what it calls their “purported hedge fund,” Capitol Equity… Read More >>
CFTC Fines, Bans Two Citi Traders for Spoofing
The CFTC has issued two separate but related orders settling charges against Stephen Gola and Jonathan Brims for spoofing — generally defined as “bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution” — in U.S. Treasury futures markets while trading for Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI). The actions against the… Read More >>
Lek Securities Charged with Aiding Fraud via Client
Lek Securities and Samuel F. Lek, CEO of the firm, are facing charges that they facilitated manipulative trading by one of its customers, dubbed “Avalon.” The charges are being brought by the self-regulatory organization Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in conjunction with the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE MKT; four Bats Exchanges (Bats… Read More >>
