US Court orders 60-day stay of civil action against ex-UBS trader accused of spoofing

Maria Nikolova

Judge Vanessa L. Bryant granted the motion to stay the CFTC action against Andre Flotron until September 18, 2018.

In line with a request by both the plaintiff and the defendant in a spoofing case, Judge Vanessa L. Bryant of the Connecticut District Court on Tuesday ordered a stay of the civil action against ex-UBS precious metals trader Andre Flotron.

The Order stipulates that the action brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in January this year is stayed until September 18, 2018.

Let’s recall that the parties moved the Court for a 60-day stay of this matter in contemplation of settlement. In support of their motion, the CFTC and Flotron stated that the Division of Enforcement and the defendant reached an agreement in principle that would resolve all of the Commission’s claims against Flotron and would conclude this litigation in its entirety.

The CFTC alleges that Andre Flotron engaged in a five-year manipulative and deceptive scheme to trick other traders in the precious metals futures market. The regulator says that he placed large bids and offers with the intent to cancel them before execution. Under the allegations, he intended for these “spoof” orders to induce other market participants to transact on smaller, “genuine” orders that he placed on the opposite side of the market.

The CFTC Complaint describes a particular pattern in which Flotron repeatedly placed large orders in same-digit amounts (e.g., 33 lots, 55 lots, 111 lots) opposite small orders in single-digit amounts (e.g., 1 lot, 5 lots, 7 lots). While the small orders were usually placed at the best bid or best offer, he placed the large orders away from the best bid or offer, where they were less likely to be filled. After the small orders were filled, he cancelled the large order. The CFTC Complaint details nine specific examples that are illustrative of the pattern described above.

The CFTC alleges that Flotron traded in this manner from at least 2008 through 2013.

Furthermore, the CFTC says that in 2008, Flotron taught a subordinate to place orders in a similar pattern and, in doing so, he revealed his motive and intent to trick other market participants.

The CFTC accuses the defendant of violations of the anti-spoofing provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (Count I), and of violations of the Act’s and Commission Regulations’ prohibition on manipulative and deceptive devices (Count II).

The case is captioned Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Flotron (3:18-cv-00158).

Read this next

Digital Assets

Sam Bankman-Fried might see his 25-year sentence halved

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison by a Manhattan court on Thursday. This comes after he was convicted of defrauding customers and investors, with Judge Lewis Kaplan highlighting the potential future risks posed by Bankman-Fried.

Technical Analysis

EURJPY Technical Analysis Report 28 March, 2024

EURJPY currency pair under the bearish pressure after the pair reversed down from the major resistance level 164.25, which also stopped the sharp weekly uptrend at the end of last year,

Digital Assets

BlockDAG’s Presale Hits $9.9M, MultiversX & MINA Price Predictions Show Green

Read about BlockDAG’s promising $10 prediction and insights on MultiversX Price Prediction as MINA’s potential unfolds.

Digital Assets

Rockstar Co-Founder and All-star Line Up Join Advisory Board to Take Metacade into Post Beta Orbit

Metacade, the revolutionary Web3 gaming platform, prepares to streak out of beta with a slew of ground-breaking initiatives that will redefine the way blockchain games are developed.

Retail FX

Prop firm The Funded Trader shuts down, claims relaunch in April

Prop trading firm The Funded Trader has ceased all operations, with claims for a relaunch in the near future.

Digital Assets

Ethereum-Based Tokenized Real Estate Platform USP Launches On Republic

How This Californian Startup Is Revolutionizing Real Estate Investment through Ethereum-Based Tokenization.

Digital Assets

Sui Spikes in Weekly DEX Volume, Joins Top 10 of All Blockchains

March DEX volume on Sui stands at over $2.88B – up more than 49% from February – with decentralized exchange Cetus and wholesale liquidity layer DeepBook leading.

Digital Assets

Prisma Finance suffers $10 million crypto exploit, attack ongoing

Liquid staking protocol Prisma Finance fell victim to a security exploit on March 28, resulting in nearly $10 million in Prisma mkUSD and wrapped stETH being stolen by hackers.

Digital Assets

Masa and LayerZero: Bridging Blockchains for Data Sovereignty

Masa Network is poised to revolutionize the personal data landscape with its upcoming launch as a cross-chain platform, making it accessible on a variety of blockchains right from the start.

<