The US Department of Justice has announced here that a man has pleaded guilty to defrauding two companies out of more than $244 million by charging for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding cattle that did not actually exist. The money was used to cover approximately $200 million in commodity futures contracts trading losses incurred. The man also defrauded the CME and submitted falsified paperwork to them in the application for position limits exemptions.
This story on Bloomberg reports that a trader who was dismissed for his alleged part in spoofing at JP Morgan (see here) is suing the bank for unfair dismissal. According to the story, other traders staged a walkout in protest. This report on “The Edge Markets” (sourced from Bloomberg Law) provides more detail on the story.
In Great Britain’s electricity market, Ofgem has announced an intention to settle with National Grid for 1.5 million GBP for a breach of the electricity transmission licence condition by providing inaccurate forecasts. The penalty notice, which can be found here, states that the breach was not intentional.
This story on the Reuters web site reports that a man has pleaded not guilty to a charge of insider trading using information obtained from a Bloomberg new reporter. The reporter is not accused of wrongdoing. It is alleged that the man acted on material non-public information about articles the reporter was working on.
