Central Bank Gold Rigging
Gold Market Rigging between Central banks has been going on for decades according to many industry sources!
Central Banks and Gold: How Tokyo, London, and New York Shaped the Modern World
You should read Central Banks and Gold: How Tokyo, London, and New York Shaped the Modern World to understand how deep that rabbit hole goes.
Here is a quote from the book “As revealed here for the first time, close cooperation between central banks began along an unexpected axis, between London and Tokyo, around the year 1900, with the Bank of England’s secret use of large Bank of Japan funds to intervene in the London markets. Central-bank cooperation became multilateral during World War I―the moment when Japan first emerged as a creditor country. In 1919 and 1920, Japan, Great Britain, and the United States adopted deflation policies, in the world’s first globally coordinated program of monetary policy.”
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee - GATA
For many years the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, informally known as GATA, has made claims of central banks and bullion banks are rigging prices in the gold market. The GATA representatives have been called anything from conspiracy nuts to tin foil hat wearers but over time we have slowly seen the layers of this onion peeled back to reveal the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. I know that the gold market waits for the day that Bill Murphy and Chris Powell are proven right, but in the meantime, let’s look at the numerous cases of Spoofing and Manipulation of the gold market.
You Say Potato, I Say Potato
There are two sides to these claims of course, on one side there are the naysayers who claim the banks are not manipulating the gold market, and of course the opposing side that claims the banks are clearly behind all of this. But both sides can indeed be right here, because its all about perspective. Yes, the bank has client positions that it has a fiduciary responsibility for, but it also trades its own book, in my mind this is a no-no and should not be allowed in today’s trading world!
Either the bank trades its own book or it deals in clients trades, not both! Banks clearly need to decide are you a trader or are you a broker!
When will the regulators put an end to this practice? That would be highly unlikely as the regulators now rely heavily on the fine money that they get from their banker buddies to keep them in the lifestyles they have become accustomed to.
It is really no different to a bent cop taking a bribe to look the other way! What is really needed here are fines that are a multiple of the money earned and of course jail time, which is what the world watching is hoping for in this latest JP Morgan Gold Spoofing case.
Remember Kareem Serageldin? Well, he was the only banker jailed over the 2008 Global Financial Crisis! That was the crime of the century!
So, let’s see if the U.S. Department of Justice are all bark and no bite in this case against the Former JP Morgan gold traders because the DOJ certainly believes there is now enough of a case to go after them with a RICO for Gold Manipulation!
A Chronological look at the History of Spoofing and Manipulation in the Metals Markets!
2010 The Anti-Spoofing Provision of the Dodd –Frank Act: New White-Collar Crime or ‘Spoof’ of a Law?
In 2010, legislation was passed that made spoofing illegal. It entails the placement of massive orders, which traders immediately cancel before they can be completed, in an effort to move prices in the direction that they believe would make their real transactions lucrative.
October 2010
Bart Chilton, a commissioner for the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced an investigation into silver manipulation.
“I take this opportunity to comment on the precious metals markets and in particular the silver markets. More than two years ago, the agency began an investigation into silver markets. I have been urging the agency to say something on the matter for months. The public deserves some answers to their concerns that silver markets are being, and have been, manipulated.” Bart Chilton
April 2011
Former Goldman Trader: There’s Huge Unforeseen Demand Coming in the Physical Gold and Silver Markets
Andrew Maguire, a former trader with Goldman Sachs and a vocal spokesman about what he suspects is market manipulation in the gold and silver markets, has been saying for a while that there’s a huge unforeseen amount of demand coming in the physical gold and silver market.
July 2012
CFTC probe into silver manipulation could be over by September
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) four-year probe into manipulation of prices on the silver market could be over as soon as September, according to CFTC member Bart Chilton.
April 2013
Goldman Sachs Is Manipulating Gold Prices Right Before Your Eyes
This is not a criminal case but an accusation from David Zeiler Associate Editor at the Money Morning, but it goes to show how the bankers influence the markets not just through trading but by insights and research that can affect sentiment.
September 2013
CFTC Silver Price-Manipulation Probe Closes
Without bringing any charges, commodity regulators in the United States have ended a probe that had been ongoing for five years into allegations of manipulation in the silver market ; this is the latest failure for authorities who are clamping down on suspected trading abuses.
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission has said that there is no “viable foundation” for a case that originated in emails that commissioners received from investors during a period of volatile market conditions in 2008. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., a significant silver trader who was the target of charges of market manipulation, emerged victorious as a result of the decision to drop the lawsuit and stop the investigation.
May 2014
Barclays Slapped with $44 Million Fine over Gold Price Fix
Barclays is the first bank to be penalized for attempting to manipulate the 95-year-old London gold market daily “fix,” however a source acquainted with the punishment says it is a one-off and not part of a larger probe into gold price fixing.
November 2014
CME bans trader for month for alleged manipulation in oil, metals
CHICAGO, Nov 28 (Reuters) – CME Group Inc on Friday fined trader Igor Oystacher $150,000 and banned him from its markets for one month for attempting to manipulate crude oil and metals futures.
Oystacher entered bids and offers in the crude oil market at the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) on multiple occasions from December 2010 to July 2011 without having “the requisite intent to trade at the time of order entry,” CME Group said in a disciplinary notice. He did the same in the silver, gold and copper markets at the Commodity Exchange (Comex) from May to July 2011, according to the exchange operator, which owns Nymex and Comex.
In this case CME Fines Chicago proprietary trading firm 3Red Group but have you seen them fine banks for doing the same? What’s the expression? Don’t bite the hand that feeds you?
March 2015
The London Bullion Market Association changes the London Gold Fix and London Silver Fix to LBMA Gold Price & LBMA Silver Price
The New LBMA Gold Price successfully launched on 20th March 2015 and then proceeds to charge the market for that live data.
The change of name protects the innocent, I guess!
What was the London Gold Fix? The London Gold Fix was a method to fix the price of gold per troy ounce in US dollars.
Allegedly more fiddling going than Jimmy Saville at the BBC, so the name Fix was just too obvious, I guess!
Take a look at the list of the LBMA Market Making members and remember the names listed before reading further: LBMA Market Makers
September 2015
Swiss watchdog opens bank probe into precious metal collusion
Switzerland’s WEKO watchdog said its investigation, the result of a preliminary probe, was looking at whether UBS, Julius Baer, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Mitsui conspired to set bid/ask spreads.
In October 2015 Switzerland’s competition watchdog WEKO includes Mitsui on a list of banks that are being examined for alleged cooperation over the price of precious metals. The collusion in question concerns the pricing of precious metals.
October 2015
Mitsui to Exit Overseas Precious-Metals Trade, Unwind Positions
Two people with knowledge of the matter said that Mitsui will shut down its precious metals operations in London and New York by the end of the year owing to falling commodity prices and stricter regulations.
What a coincidence? Only one month after the Swiss Watchdog probe!
December 2015
CFTC Email: Silver Price Market Manipulation and Position Limits
PPS: The total investment grade market, of physical silver (bullion market) is estimated to be at
approximately $16 billion, worldwide.
The silver derivatives market is estimated to be at approximately $127 billion.
This means that there is 8 times more derivatives, on silver, than there is actual physical silver, in the
market.
When CME Group Inc. Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy says that there is no need for immediate
position limits, he has a dog in this fight, himself, as the biggest market operators at the COMEX, and
thus the best and most valued clients to the CME, also happen to be the big silver market manipulators,
who would have the most to lose, on their gigantic outstanding, speculative short silver contract
positions, were position limits to be instituted and implemented, in the COMEX market.
Mr. Terrence Duffy is giving voice to what the big silver market manipulators, JPMorgan and HSBC
USA, do not dare to say, themselves, publicly: That the big COMEX silver market short price
manipulators do not want COMEX position limits at all.
Joachim Troiliu
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - Gold and Silver Market Instrument Canadian Class Action
JULIUS DI FILIPPO and DAVID CARON
Vs
THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, SCOTIAMOCATTA, SCOTIA CAPITAL (USA) INC., BARCLAYS PLC, BARCLAYS BANK PLC, BARCLAYS CAPITAL CANADA INC., BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC., BARCLAYS CAPITAL PLC, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES LIMITED, DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES, INC., HSBC BANK PLC., HSBC HOLDINGS PLC, HSBC BANK CANADA, HSBC SECURITIES (CANADA) INC., HSBC USA INC., HSBC SECURITIES (USA) INC., LONDON GOLD MARKET FIXING LTD., SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE, SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE (CANADA), SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE SA, SG AMERICAS SECURITIES, LLC, UBS AG, UBS BANK (CANADA) and UBS SECURITIES LLC
See Settlement outcome below June 2019
September 2016
"Very skeptical" judge - former FBI/SEC official eyes London gold and silver fix lawsuits
Seven banks are being sued in separate gold and silver class action lawsuits currently before the US. District Court, Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs: gold and silver bullion traders, and traders of various associated financial instruments, allege banks conspired in secret closed meetings to rig the London PM Gold Fix and Silver Fix benchmarks during the period from 2001 to 2013.
Read the piece by Alan Flynn on the BullionStar website
London Silver Fixing, Ltd. Antitrust Litigation, No. 14-MD-02573-VEC
Plaintiffs alleged, based on a sophisticated econometric analysis of thousands of price quotes from the silver markets, that this daily private auction was a cover for a conspiracy among the participating banks, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Bank of Nova Scotia (collectively referred to as the “Fixing Banks”), to suppress the price for physical silver and silver-denominated financial products. Plaintiffs’ allegations were based on allegations that the “Fixing Banks” colluded to fix
The court decided in September of 2016 that the plaintiffs have asserted claims against HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia. The plaintiffs reached a settlement with Deutsche Bank for $38 million dollars and what the plaintiffs hoped would be a treasure trove of preserved electronic chat messages between precious metals traders employed by Deutsche Bank and traders at Bank of America, Barclays, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, and UBS (collectively referred to as the “Non-Fixing Banks”).
The chat messages, many of which are quoted in the Third Amended Complaint (the “TAC”) (Dkt. 258), appear to document the sharing of proprietary information as well as episodic attempts to coordinate trading. This was apparently done in the hopes of profiting from the resulting movement in the prices of silver and silver-denominated financial instruments.
Following the acquisition of these chat conversations, the plaintiffs decided to modify their case to include allegations that the Non-Fixing Banks had collaborated with the Fixing Banks and among themselves to influence the Silver Fixing as well as the silver markets more broadly.
September 2017
An ex-UBS trader is being accused of engaging in a five-year "spoofing" conspiracy to manipulate the metals market.
Andre Flotron is facing many charges, including those of conspiracy, wire fraud, and commodities fraud.
According to the complaint that was submitted on Tuesday in federal court in Connecticut, it is alleged that Flotron and other unnamed co-conspirators conceived and carried out plans to defraud other market players by engaging in the unethical and fraudulent activity of spoofing.
According to the allegations, the traders pumped false information into the market by placing huge orders for precious metals futures on the commodities exchange operated by the CME Group, even though they had no intention of actually executing the deal. According to the complaint, after that, they participated in a series of minor transactions on the other side of the market in an effort to profit from following price swings.
January 2018
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has given UBS an order to pay a penalty of $15 million for attempted manipulation and spoofing in the precious metals futures markets.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has just issued an order that files and settles charges against UBS AG (UBS). The order requires UBS to pay a civil monetary penalty of $15 million and to perform other corrective actions.
The Order finds that beginning in January 2008 and continuing through at least December 2013, UBS, by and through the acts of certain precious metals traders on the spot desk, attempted to manipulate the price of precious metals futures contracts. They did this by employing a variety of manual spoofing techniques with respect to precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange, Inc., including gold and silver, and by trading in a manner to trigger customer stop-loss orders. Additionally, the Order finds that UBS traded
Commodity Exchange – Gold Futures and Options Trading Litigation
Plaintiffs allege that, from January 1, 2004, through June 30 2013, inclusive (the “Settlement Class Period”), Defendants (Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Bank plc, Barclays Bank plc, Société Générale SA, The Bank of Nova Scotia, and The London Gold Market Fixing Limited) conspired to drive down the price of gold around the time of a daily, secret, and unregulated afternoon meeting (the “PM Gold Fix”).
April 2018
Ex-UBS Metals Trader Beats Spoofing Conspiracy Charge
- Defendant found not guilty of scheming to manipulate markets
- Expert defense witness raised doubts about trading patterns
October 2018
Precious Metals Futures Market Spoofing Penalty: Bank of Nova Scotia Pays $800,000 CFTC Penalty
An order was issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to file and settle charges against the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) for engaging in multiple acts of spoofing in gold and silver futures contracts that were traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The CFTC’s investigation revealed that the BNS acted in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CME).
The Order concludes that beginning at least in June 2013 and continuing through June 2016, BNS participated in the aforementioned conduct by and through traders working at its precious metals trading desk (Traders). The Order stipulates that BNS must pay a civil monetary penalty of $800,000 and must immediately stop and desist from breaking the ban against spoofing that is outlined in the Commodity Exchange Act. When BNS found out about the inappropriate behaviour, it was brought to its attention by its Futures Commission Merchant, and as soon as BNS was aware of the inappropriate behaviour, it reported it to the CFTC.
June 2019
CFTC Orders Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. to Pay Approximately $25 Million for Spoofing, Manipulation, and Attempted Manipulation in Precious Metals Futures
Washington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. (MLCI), a provisionally registered swap dealer, for spoofing, manipulation, and attempted manipulation over a six-year period with respect to certain precious metals futures contracts traded on the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX).
The CFTC Order imposes monetary sanctions totaling approximately $25 million, which includes a civil monetary penalty of $11.5 million dollars, over $2.3 million in restitution, and disgorgement of $11.1 million. The Order also requires MLCI to cooperate with the CFTC in matters related to this action and the underlying conduct, and to comply with certain obligations in connection with its corporate compliance program and reporting requirements.
Swiss Watchdog Closes Banks Probe into Precious Metal Collusion
Bern, 06.06.2019 – The Competition Commission (COMCO) is discontinuing the investigation into possible agreements between banks in the trading of precious metals. The suspicion of an antitrust violation has not been substantiated.
JULIUS DI FILIPPO and DAVID CARON Vs THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA et al
The plaintiffs have reached a settlement with the Deutsche Bank defendants. The settlement is $5.47 million consisting of $3.35 million in the gold action and $2.12 million in the silver action.
July 2019
In the midst of an ongoing criminal investigation, three precious metals traders from J.P. Morgan have been accused. Michael Nowak, who was a managing director at J.P. Morgan and also headed the firm’s global precious metals desk, along with Gregg Smith and Christopher Jordan, who both held the title executive director and were traders on the firm’s precious metals desk while employed at J.P. Morgan, were named in the indictment. . All three men were employed at J.P. Morgan. In connection with the manipulation of precious metals futures markets, each of them was charged with one count of conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, often known as RICO, in addition to other federal offenses.
According to Ronan Manly of Bullion Star, it took the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) a considerable amount of time to remove Michael Nowak from its board. Despite severe violations of the LBMA’s Global Precious Metals Code, J.P. Morgan continues to be a member of the organization. This is because for many of its members to date, the code seems to be more of a guide to what its members can do rather than to what they can’t do! So much for being the Global oversight body, conferences are well organised it’s a shame they don’t hold their members to account!
September 2020
Ex-Deutsche Bank Gold Traders Found Guilty in Spoofing Trial
Cedric Chanu and James Vorley were found guilty of fraud charges for their role in fake transactions.
After deliberating over a week, a jury in Chicago finds the metals dealers guilty.
Traders on the JPMorgan Trading Desk in the United States labelled a crime syndicate.
JPMorgan confessed to misconduct and paid $920 million to resolve federal U.S. market manipulation inquiries into its trading of metals futures and Treasury securities. The probes were initiated because JPMorgan manipulated the market for precious metals and the Treasury market. Numerous people have expressed their opinion that this figure is little in comparison to the amount of money that the metals desk made during the periods when the crimes were committed.
Look at the dates between the Ex-Deutsche Bank traders being found guilty, and JPM paying the fine and accepting the blame, I wonder if the acceptance of the fine was in light of the jail time Deutsche Bank traders received?
March 2021
An appeal by Morgan Stanley and Bank of America has resulted in a dismissal of the metals-spoofing lawsuit.
A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed litigation brought by traders and trading firms accusing Bank of America Corp and Morgan Stanley of manipulating the precious metals futures market by placing trades and then cancelling them before execution. This practice is known as “spoofing.” The lawsuit had been brought in Manhattan.
The United States District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan said in June 2019 that the complaint filed over alleged spoofing in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium futures from 2007 to 2014 was submitted far after the federal statute of limitations of two years had passed.
July 2021
Former gold traders at Merrill Lynch have been found guilty of spoofing in a recent trial.
On Wednesday, a federal jury in Chicago found Edward Bases and John Pacilio guilty of illegally flooding the market with buy and sell orders that they quickly cancelled to move gold, silver, or platinum prices in the direction they wanted between the years 2008 and 2014. The jury reached their verdict after hearing testimony from both men. Even while there isn’t necessarily anything improper with cancelling orders, both of these guys have been accused of fraudulently taking money from other traders.
Earlier, prosecutor Scott Armstrong told the jury that the defendants engaged in the illegal activity “to earn more money on their transactions, to rip off other traders.” They continued to do it again and over and over and over again. They were rather proud of their ability to influence market pricing. They took great delight in cheating other merchants out of their money. They boasted about it often. They mentored newer merchants and showed them the ropes.
September 2021
JP Morgan is being sued by a silver miner on allegations of manipulating commodities prices.
Hidalgo Mining Corp v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., 9:21-cv-81827, 9:2021cv81827, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Civil Case, Filed on Sept 28, 2021 – racketeering suit against JPMorgan Chase claiming the investment bank manipulated silver prices using a tactic known as spoofing
The largest investment bank in the world, JP Morgan Chase, has been accused of price-fixing, which led to the closure of Hidalgo Mining Corp.’s Dorosa silver mine in Florida.
According to a lawsuit filed against JP Morgan only a few days ago, Hidalgo secured $10.35 million from investors to fund a silver mine in Mexico that started production in 2012 and shut down in 2014.
July 2022
Appeals court upholds ex-Deutsche Bank traders' spoofing convictions
- Vorley and Chanu argued their futures orders were not fraudulent
- Court ruled that placing decoy orders that were intended to be cancelled was deceptive
Fast Forward to the current JP Morgan Court Case
Former traders at JPMorgan face racketeering charges and go on trial.
A federal prosecutor in Chicago told a jury that the precious metals business at JPMorgan Chase & Co. was run for years by a corrupt group of traders and sales staff who manipulated the gold and silver markets for the benefit of the bank and its prized customers. This was done in order to benefit the bank’s precious metals business.
A prosecutor working in the fraud unit of the Justice Department named Lucy Jennings said that “this case is about a criminal conspiracy within one of the major institutions on Wall Street.” They made the decision to cheat in order to increase the amount of money they had for themselves.
Former JP Morgan Employees
The prosecution of three former employees of JPMorgan (let’s not forget they are accused of committing the crime whilst they worked at the firm), one of whom was the seasoned head of precious metals, Michael Nowak, is the most aggressive attempt yet in a crackdown on the market manipulation and spoofing that has been going on in the United States for years. In contrast to other instances of suspected trading fraud, the trio is accused of participating in a racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970. This is a criminal legislation that is more typically utilized against the Mafia than it is against multinational banks.
Michael Nowak, a veteran head of precious metals and former LBMA Board Member, Gregg Smith, a gold trader, and Jeffrey Ruffo, an executive director who specialized in hedge fund sales, are the three former employees of JPMorgan Chase who are currently under investigation. They are all charged with racketeering conspiracy as well as conspiring to commit price manipulation, wire fraud, commodities fraud, and spoofing from 2008 to 2016. Jeffrey Ruffo is also an executive director who specialized in hedge fund sales.
According to the documents filed by the prosecution, the primary gold trader, Gregg Smith, is believed to have carried out 38,000 layering sequences during the course of his career, which is equivalent to around 20 a day. Nowak engaged in the most of trading options, but sometimes ventured into the futures market to hedge the positions he had. According to the documents, he gave layering a go for the first time in September 2009 and went on to use the strategy around 3,600 times.
According to the allegations, Ruffo spoke with Smith on the location of the market prices that he required in order to complete orders involving at least two of Smith’s hedge fund customers. According to documents filed with the court, Moore Capital Management and Tudor Investment Corporation are involved.
A former employee of JPMorgan’s gold trading division testified on Tuesday before a federal jury in Chicago that the company’s traders defrauded other market participants for years by “spoofing deals” or manipulating the price of precious metals to increase their profits.
Michael Nowak, a former global head of the precious metals trading desk for JPMorgan, Gregg Smith, also a former global head of the precious metals trading desk for JPMorgan, and Jeffrey Ruffo, a hedge fund salesman, have all been charged with racketing and conspiracy by the Justice Department and are currently on trial for their respective crimes.
The prosecution claims that Nowak oversaw as many as 50,000 fraudulent deals at the precious metals department while he was in charge.
Edmonds said that he was able to learn how to spoof transactions during his tenure at JPMorgan, where he was able to carry out as many as 400 of the fraudulent deals. He also stated that it was required of everyone working on the trading desk.
In 2019, the three guys were each accused with doing illegal acts. JPMorgan paid a fine of close to one billion US dollars in 2020 as a result of the fraud, but the trial is expected to expose additional information about working on the desk.
Christopher Jordan, a trader who worked at JPMorgan before leaving the company in 2009, has also been accused and will face a separate trial in November.
The court case is anticipated to last up to five weeks. Prosecutors want to summon three former traders as cooperating witnesses, all of whom have pled guilty to similar offenses separately. According to court documents, alleged victims of the crime may potentially testify as well.
With the Bank admitting to wrong doing and paying a fine that quite frankly is lower than their preicousw metal income during that period I do not see any reason why the JP morgan traders in the US should not be jailed but lets see how this pans out for the white collar criminals on this occasion!
Despite manipulating precious metals prices, JP Morgan is still at the heart of the LBMA, SBMA and COMEX
With a group of former JP Morgan precious metals traders currently on criminal trial in front of a federal jury in Chicago, accused of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy involving precious metals price manipulation, commodities fraud and trade spoofing, while another group of their colleagues have already pleaded guilty, now is a good time to ask how the bank JP Morgan is still considered fit and proper to not only continue to trade in the precious metals markets, but to continue to literally dominate the entire precious metals industry in London, Singapore and New York, with the support of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the Singapore Bullion Market Association (SBMA) and the CME Group (operator of the COMEX and NYMEX).
Gold Spoofing History Conclusion
As you can see, hardly a year has gone by where at least one LBMA member has not been accused of, or found guilty of a criminal offense, yet they all remain LBMA Members or even Market Makers, paying bigger fines each time but which are merely a percentage of their criminal proceeds. More can and should be done by the regulators to either remove them from one side of the trade, and to add additional monitoring and reporting for all gold trades and positions! Some banks like Barclays even have video cameras on the traders in their dealing rooms!
Global Bank Desk Spoofing?
Whilst he Gold Industry waits with bated breath for the outcome of the JP Morgan gold manipulation trial, one thing that leaves me pondering this case is the banks global teams’ position in all of this?
Global Banks dealing rooms typically follow the sun, with +8-hour desks running the 24 hours of the markets. I did hear the JP Morgan Singapore team were put on suspension and have not heard anything further to that end. I think it would not be possible to run these types of trades without it being done globally as a team, but that’s just my theory on the matter, not a fact!
The MAS are monitoring the current JP Morgan case as I highlighted it to them when the news broke, and they acknowledged the case is on their radar. There was a case around 2019 where 2 traders were jailed in Singapore for spoofing on the SGX STI, they served 6 months in Changi Prison for that. If the ex-JP Morgan Traders in the US are found guilty, then I hope to see similar action being taken there in Singapore in terms of an investigation and the fact that it’s a big bank name should not stop this from happening, as a crime is a crime!
The banks clearly have deep pockets to fight these cases, they either settle without admitting guilt, appeal and have previous convictions expunged from a Judge that is often linked in some way to the law firm via legal back channels or prior workings with the banks legal firm which is clearly an issue in the financial & legal system!
My Final Word is that White Collar Crime Clearly Pays!
**If I have missed any of the Spoofing or Manipulations cases out feel free to contact us directly via the website with further details**
Spencer Campbell
Director SE Asia Consulting - Precious Metals Consultant
