ββ#ForexChief #JPMorgan #forexnews #gold #MichaelNovak #CMEGroupInc #GregSmith #nft #AlexGerkoβ
β‘ JPMorgan and Β«emptyΒ» gold: the market manipulator received a prison termβ
β οΈ Wheel of justice is turning slowly, but the scandalous investigation is finally over: the former head of the JPMorgan Chase & Co division, Michael Novak, has finally heard his verdict on 13 counts. He has become one of the highest-ranking bankers convicted in the US since the financial crisis and faces the prospect of spending more than 20 years in prison.
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The prosecution took three weeks of court hearings: Michael Novak and Greg Smith are charged with racketeering conspiracy, price manipulation, wire fraud, merchandise fraud and spoofing from 2008 to 2016.
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Rumours of JPMorgan's Β«dirtyΒ» practices have roamed the markets for more than 10 years. Alex Gerko, the head of an algorithmic trading firm, complained about Smith's gold market activities back in 2012 to CME Group Inc. In 2018, an official hunt began for traders who created thousands of fake trades but never intended to execute them.
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A team of data scientists analyzed billions of transactions, and the result was brought to JPMorgan. Head of department Novak and Smith, a gold trader, placed large buy/sell pending orders to push the price in a direction favourable to the bank. These orders were cancelled as quickly as they appeared.
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The main victims of such operations were traders of HFT strategies, although some figures, such as Jeffrey Ruffo, were involved in fraud on behalf of various hedge funds. JPMorgan has already paid $920 million to settle the charges against the corporation.
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Novak's sentence is a great example of a successful fight against illegal market practices: over the past two years, 10 traders from five different banks have been prosecuted in the United States.
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But even after such repression, spoofing is actively used in the market, so be careful.
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Profits to yβall!