Deutsche Bank has signed a coordinated resolution with the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice that for $130 million resolves investigations of a commodities fraud scheme and a conspiracy to cover payments to people who facilitated bribes of foreign officials. The agreement specifies that Deutsche Bank will pay more than $120 million in fines… Read More >>
Julius Baer & DoJ Resolve FIFA Case for $79M
Swiss private bank Julius Baer reports that it has reached a $79.7 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving a money-laundering probe involving the Zurich-based world soccer group, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The U.S. settlement follows actions by the Swiss financial services regulator to close its case against the bank. Justice… Read More >>
Spoofing Cases Yield a Record Fine & Convictions
False trade orders that spur sharp market price reactions before they disappear — otherwise known as “spoof orders” — have the full attention of authorities as evidenced by a recent record fine against JPMorgan, and the conviction of two former traders at Deutsche Bank. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay nearly one billion… Read More >>
Scotiabank Fined $127M for Price Fixing & Spoofing
The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) is settling major criminal and civil charges that it engaged in price-fixing and spoofing efforts via precious metals futures contracts. The Toronto-based bank has signed separate agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), with the combined fines totaling approximately $127.5 million. The… Read More >>
Goldman Sachs Reaches $3.9B Settlement with Malaysia
Goldman Sachs is settling with Malaysia, whose sovereign-wealth fund was looted in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund better known as 1MDB, to the tune of more than $2.5 billion. It’s the latest episode in the long-running saga of 1MDB, the fugitive financier Jho Low, and the New York City-based multinational… Read More >>
$96M of Luxury Loot Sought via 1MDB Scandal
The United States Justice Department (DoJ) reports that it has filed civil forfeiture complaints aimed at the “recovery of approximately $96 million in assets allegedly associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.” Those assets include “luxury real estate in Paris, artwork by Claude… Read More >>
Banca IMI Pleads Guilty to ADR Bid-Rigging
Banca IMI Securities Corp., a New York broker-dealer, has pled guilty to an antitrust charge and been sentenced to pay a criminal penalty “in excess of $2 million for its involvement in a bid-rigging conspiracy for certain financial instruments,” the U.S. Department of Justice reports. Those financial instruments are pre-release American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which… Read More >>
Ex-State Street EVP Convicted for Secret Fees Schemes
A former State Street Bank & Trust executive vice president has been convicted, by a Boston federal jury, of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, two counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. The conviction of Ross McLellan, 47, of Hingham, Mass., the former EVP, who served… Read More >>
Justice Department Cracks Down on Premium Point Investments
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is bearing down on key players at hedge fund Premium Point Investments — now in bankruptcy — arresting them on charges of a scheme of mismarking hundreds of millions of dollars in structured credit products. The DoJ action sets the stage for a possible criminal trial as three of… Read More >>
SEC & Justice Department Bear Down on Centra Tech
In the present financial era value moves around the globe via esoteric financial instruments that may exist only on the Internet. Which means that today a robbery might be entirely virtual. Even though the value stolen is entirely real. That proposition underlies the SEC’s recent complaint against the two co-founders of a so-called “financial services… Read More >>