JPMorgan Chase Trader Pleads Guilty to Gold Manipulation, Turns State’s Evidence
Gold and silver investors got a rare bit of good news on the enforcement front last week.
A trader from JPMorgan Chase pled guilty to rigging the precious metals futures markets.
John Edmonds admitted to cheating the bank’s clients and plenty of other people naive enough to expect fair treatment on the COMEX and other exchanges.
While this is by no means the first time a banker has been caught cheating, some aspects of this case are certainly worth noting.
As part of his plea, Edmonds admitted that from approximately 2009 through 2015, he conspired with other precious metals traders at the Bank to manipulate the markets for gold, silver, platinum and palladium futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (NYMEX) and Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX), which are commodities exchanges operated by CME Group Inc.
Edmonds and his fellow precious metals traders at the Bank routinely placed orders for precious metals futures contracts with the intent to cancel those orders before execution (the Spoof Orders), he admitted.
Mr. Edmonds is ratting out some fellow traders, including more senior traders and immediate supervisors. It appears that JPMorgan will have trouble painting him as a “rogue” trader, as so often happens when an employee gets caught.
Maybe, just maybe, the trail uncovered here will lead to a high level executive spending some time in prison for rigging the metals markets. That would be a first.
It is getting harder and harder for futures markets representatives to make the case that trading is even remotely free or fair. That is a good thing. We aren’t going to get honest markets in metals until confidence in the existing structure finally shatters and traders demand something better.
More guilty pleas, new convictions and additional evidence of systematic, widespread cheating is just what is needed for class-action lawsuits.
https://www.activistpost.com/2018/11/jpmorgan-chase-trader-pleads-guilty-to-gold-manipulation-turns-states-evidence.html