CFTC SETTLES CHARGES WITH A BANK AND AN INVESTMENT COMPANY

FROM: U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

CFTC Orders Foreign Traders SMP Bank and Epaster Investments, Ltd. to Pay $980,000 for Engaging in a Wash Sale Scheme in the CME’s Japanese Yen Options Contract

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and settling charges against SMP Bank (SMP), headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and Epaster Investments, Ltd. (Epaster), an investment company located in Nicosia, Cyprus, for engaging in wash sales and causing the execution of non-competitive pre-arranged trades in the Japanese Yen options contract traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

The CFTC Order requires SMP and Epaster to pay civil monetary penalties of $700,000 and $280,000 respectively, and to cease and desist from violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations governing wash sales and non-competitive pre-arranged trading, as charged.

The CFTC Order finds that on three occasions SMP traded with itself in the March 2012 Japanese Yen options contract listed on the CME, and that SMP and Epaster were on opposite sides of two additional trades in same contract.

The CFTC's Order finds that SMP intentionally negated price competition in each of these trades, as follows. The same SMP employees controlled SMP’s and Epaster’s trading accounts. Each of the orders in question was equal and offsetting in size and price, and was initiated at or near the same time. The orders were entered and the trades executed in an illiquid market at prices higher than any bids and offers in the market at the time. As a result, the SMP employees knew when placing the relevant orders that another SMP or Epaster account would be the counterparty to the ensuing transaction. Moreover, SMP knew that these transactions were riskless and further that each of the three transactions SMP executed with itself resulted in a financial nullity and therefore achieved a wash result.

According to David Meister, the Director of the CFTC's Enforcement Division, "The Commission will not tolerate wash sales or other riskless trading schemes. Such schemes undermine the integrity of futures and options markets. Today’s Order is a message to traders of the serious consequences that will result from such violations."

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Susan Gradman, Joseph Patrick, Scott Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, and Richard Wagner. In addition, Division of Market Oversight staff member Sia Papadapoulous assisted with this case.

CFTC ORDERS MORGAN STANLEY TO PAY FINE FOR UNLAWFUL NONCOMPETITIVE TRADES

FROM:  U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
CFTC Orders Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC to Pay $5 Million Civil Monetary Penalty for Unlawful Noncompetitive Trades
Morgan Stanley had inadequate supervisory systems and controls to detect and deter the unlawful conduct that occurred repeatedly over 18-months
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an order filing and settling charges that, over an 18-month period, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (Morgan Stanley), a registered futures commission merchant (FCM), unlawfully executed, processed, and reported numerous off-exchange futures trades to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) as exchanges for related positions (EFRPs). The CFTC order requires Morgan Stanley to pay a $5 million civil monetary penalty and to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, as charged.

According to the CFTC order, because the futures trades were executed noncompetitively and not in accordance with exchange rules governing EFRPs, they constituted “fictitious sales” and resulted in the reporting of non-bona fide prices, in violation of the CEA and CFTC regulations. The order also finds that Morgan Stanley had related supervisory and recordkeeping violations.

The commodity futures trading laws generally require that futures trades be executed on a futures exchange. The laws allow for exceptions to that requirement, such as when the futures trade is part of an EFRP, which is where parties exchange futures contracts for a related cash or over-the-counter (OTC) derivative position, such as an option or a swap. As long as the legal requirements are met, parties are permitted to execute EFRPs away from an exchange but then must report their EFRPs to an exchange after execution.
“The laws requiring that futures trades be executed on an exchange serve important price discovery and transparency principles,” said David Meister, Director of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement. “As today’s action should demonstrate, when an FCM reports that it properly conducted an off-exchange futures trade as part of an EFRP, that report had better be accurate. In all cases, firms must have appropriate systems and controls in place designed to detect and prevent the conduct described in the order.”
According to the CFTC’s order, from at least April 18, 2008 through October 29, 2009, Morgan Stanley noncompetitively executed numerous futures trades and improperly reported them as EFRPs, since they did not have the required corresponding cash or OTC derivative positions.

The order finds that Morgan Stanley’s supervisory systems and internal controls were not adequate to detect and deter the noncompetitive trading of futures contracts improperly designated as EFRPs. For example, although Morgan Stanley’s Futures Operations department had the responsibility to report EFRPs to the CME and CBOT, that department was not required to verify that the EFRPs had the required corresponding related cash or OTC derivative positions, nor was any other operations department required to do so. The order further finds that Morgan Stanley failed to ensure that its employees involved in the execution, handling and processing of EFRPs understood the requirements for executing bona fide EFRPs. Moreover, the order finds that Morgan Stanley lacked sufficient surveillance systems to identify trades improperly designated as EFRPs. The order also finds that Morgan Stanley failed to designate the trades as EFRPs on all orders, records, and memoranda pertaining to EFRPs, as required.

The order recognizes Morgan Stanley’s significant cooperation in the Division of Enforcement’s investigation of this matter.

In a related proceeding, the CME Group is issuing a notice of disciplinary action against Morgan Stanley today. The CFTC thanks the CME Group for its assistance.
CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Brian G. Mulherin, Timothy M. Kirby, Brandon T. Tasco, Gretchen L. Lowe, and Vincent A. McGonagle.