U.S. REGULATORS ACCUSE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA OF ILLEGAL FUTURES TRADING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS

The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission has brought a case in federal court alleging the Royal Bank of Canada has been involved in a scheme of illegal futures trading accruing illegal profits in the hundreds of millions of dollars. So called “wash trading” are prohibited as they are techniques used to evade the basic pricing mechanism of financial markes and used simply to generate commissions. These trades were allegedly orchestrated by a small group of senion officials and passed along to RBC subsidiaries which bought and sold ofsetting positions. The CFTC also said that the Royal bank fo Canada tried to cover up the scheme when questions began to emerge. It “willfully concealed” information and made false and misleading statements in response to inquiries by CME. The lawsuit is the largest wash sale case the CFTC has ever filed. Under the Dod-Frank Act, the CFTC has jurisdiction over a broader set of derivatives as well as new and enhanced powers to pursue fraud and manipulation in different markets.