Articles Tagged with precious metal trading

In the US, federal prosecutors have filed a complaint against ex-UBS (UBS) trader Andre Flotron, charging him with commodities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and spoofing. The latter is what they claim that he engaged in to rig the precious metal futures market. Spoofing involves issuing bids or offers that are deceptive to manipulate a market.

According to the criminal complaint, Flotron and co-conspirators engaged in the alleged spoofing scam from at least 7/2008 through at least 11/2013. He would submit a small sell order or buy order for a certain futures contract, which would be close in price to the current market price. Flotron would then put in an order at least 10 times bigger on the market’s opposite side before cancelling the bigger order seconds after at least part of the order he made originally was put through.

Flotron also is accused of teaching a young trader how to spoof. The trader, who spoofed on numerous occasions, struck a nonprosecution deal in which he agreed to share information about the alleged spoofing.

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