NFA bans Nord Capital Advisors one month after CFTC fined firm for misconduct relating to algo trading disclosure

The US National Futures Association (NFA) has permanently barred Nord Capital Advisors LLC, an NFA Member commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor located in Stamford, Connecticut. with a branch office in Moscow, Russia, and Yakov Shlyapochnik, an associated person and principal of Nord Capital, from membership.

In addition, Nord Capital and Mr. Shlyapochnik are both barred from acting as principals of an NFA Member and must pay a $300,000 fine.

This decision comes just one month after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined Nord Capital Advisors and Mr. Shlyapochnik to jointly and severally pay a $280,000 civil monetary penalty for failing to disclose Nord Capital Advisors’ principal in registration filings and for engaging in fraud in soliciting prospective clients by failing to disclose material changes in NCA’s algorithmic trading program. The Decision, issued by NFA’s Business Conduct Committee (BCC), is based on a Complaint authorized by the BCC and a settlement offer submitted by Nord Capital and Shlyapochnik.

In this particular case, the NFA’s complaint, which can be viewed here charged Nord Capital and Shlyapochnik with a failure to cooperate by refusing to provide NFA with books and records as requested.

Nord Capital’s and Mr. Shlyapochnik’s willful refusal to produce the requested records prevented NFA from completing its examination. Such conduct on the part of Nord Capital and Shlyapochnik strikes at the heart of NFA’s examination function, which depends upon the full cooperation of NFA Members and Associates in order to function effectively.

Nord Capital and Mr. Shlyapochnik were the subjects of an NFA enforcement action in July 2014 prohibiting them from soliciting or accepting funds, or placing trades and disbursing or transferring funds from customer accounts.