Tag Archives: Department of Justice

Following news coverage of the charging of five precious metals traders and three banks in January, Commodities Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice documents reveal a global criminal cabal of 16 traders operating in at least four major financial institutions between 2008 and 2015 to defraud COMEX gold and silver futures markets. Of the many examples published, one reveals a UBS AG precious metals...

Three years after we first identified the former head of UBS's gold desk in Zurich as someone directly implicated in the rigging of precious metals prices, Bloomberg reports that Andre Flotron, a Swiss resident, was arrested while visiting the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. Having been "on leave" since 2014, it appears Andre's hope that he was gone but "keen to return in due time" are now up in smoke.   As Bloomberg reports, Flotron was...

The following is an excerpt from David Enrich’s nonfiction financial and legal thriller The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History.  (Read part of the prologue here; another excerpt can be found here) This excerpt takes place shortly after the accused mastermind of the Libor scandal, Tom Hayes, is fired from his job at...

The following is an excerpt from David Enrich's nonfiction financial and legal thriller The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History.  (Read part of the prologue here; another excerpt can be found here) This excerpt takes place shortly after the accused mastermind of the Libor scandal, Tom Hayes, is fired from his job at Citigroup, kicking government investigations into interest-rate-rigging into a...

The sad saga of Navinder Sarao, who on April 20, 2015 became the scapegoat for the May 2010 flash crash and was sentenced to up to 360 years in prison - he will find out later this year the actual length of his prison sentence - got its latest twist today thanks to a fascinating report how in addition to having lost his freedom, Nav also lost all of trading fortune, some $50 million of it. As Bloomberg's Liam Vaughn recounts, "it took Navinder Singh Sarao a long time to accept that he might...

Airlines, Airports to Meet President Amid Travel-Ban Uncertainty (WSJ) Legal battle pits Trump's powers against his words (Reuters) Trump’s Oval Office Tweets Force CEOs to Choose Fight or Flight (BBG) Companies Plow Ahead With Moves to Mexico, Despite Trump’s Pressure (WSJ) Trump’s Labor Pick Loves Burgers, Bikinis, and Free Markets (BBG) NATO allies lock in U.S. support for stand-off with Russia (Reuters) Sessions Takes Reins at Justice Ready to Walk the Line for Trump (BBG) Washington...

Shortly after last night’s news that Deutsche Bank had settled with the DOJ for $7.2 billion, of which it would pay $3.1 billion in a civil penalty, far lower than the $14 billion number initially speculated (the stock popped as much as 4% before settling just over 2% higher currently), Credit Suisse likewise closed the books on its pre-crisis RMBS fraud when the largest Swiss bank agreed to pay $5.28 billion to...

Following the seemingly endless procession of short-squeeze-fueling trial balloons last week – from settlement rumors to German blue-chip bailouts to Qatari investors – Germany’s Bild newspaper confirms the rumors that sparked weakness on Friday: Deutsche bank CEO John Cryan has failed to reach an agreement with the US Justice Department. John Cryan - Click to enlarge Having soared over 25% off the briefly...

Gold and Silver Are Manipulated Deutsche Bank admitted today that it participated with other big banks in manipulating gold and silver prices. In 2014, Switzerland’s financial regulator (FINMA) found “serious misconduct” and a “clear attempt to manipulate precious metals benchmarks” by UBS employees in precious metals trading, particularly with silver. Reuters reported: Swiss regulator FINMA said on Wednesday that it found a “clear attempt” to manipulate precious metals benchmarks during...