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The nature of “churning” within an investor’s account is difficult to prove. According to the S.E.C., “churning refers to the excessive buying and selling of securities in your account by your broker, for the purpose of generating commissions and without regard to your investment objectives.” In short, churning is a form of broker misconduct in…

JPMorgan is in the financial spotlight once again — this time with its second major federal settlement within a month. Whereas last month’s settlement was in connection with broker misconduct that affected investors, the more recent developments involved state governments and government organizations. In its most recent settlement, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $211 million…

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission filed a case on May 24, 2011 alleging that certain commodities traders including Parnon Energy, Inc., Arcadia Petroleum Ltd. and Arcadia Energy (Suisse) SA (“Defendants”) violated the Commodities Exchange Act. The complaint alleges that defendants caused the price of futures and options contracts on West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude…

Law Office of Christopher J. Gray, P.C. informs investors that if they wish to opt out of the securities settlement of a class action lawsuit (In re Tremont Securities Law, State Law, and Insurance Litig., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Master Docket No. 08-CV-11117 (TPG), hereinafter referred to as the…

Former head energy trader at now-defunct hedge fund Amaranth Brian Hunter was assessed a civil penalty of $30 million for allegedly violating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) anti-manipulation rules. FERC had charged Hunter with causing artificial prices in physical natural gas as an outgrowth of his alleged scheme to artificially depress the price of…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ( or “FINRA”) reached a settlement with and fined brokerage firm UBS Financial Services concerning UBS’s sale of so-called “100% Principal-Protection” notes issued by the former Lehman Brothers Holdings. The settlement resulted in UBS agreeing to pay a fine of $2.5 million, and required UBS to pay $8.25 million in…

Christopher J. Gray, P.C., along with co-counsel, has filed a putative class action alleging the hedge fund Moore Capital violated the antitrust laws by manipulating the prices of palladium and platinum via a scheme of orchestrated trading during the last few minutes before the expiration of certain futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile…

Christopher J. Gray, P.C. and its co-counsel have filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the dismissal of the complaint in an action alleging that the major underwriters of title insurance conspired to fix the premiums for title insurance at an artificially high level. The U.S. District Court for…

Christopher J. Gray. P.C. and its co-counsel filed a Second Amended Complaint on March 31, 2010 containing substantial new allegations concerning Bank of America’s alleged knowledge of and substantial assistance provided to the now-defunct Ponzi scheme operation known as Agape World. The Second Amended Complaint alleges, among other things, that Bank of America ignored the…

Christopher J. Gray, P.C. and its co-counsel for plaintiffs have filed a motion for class certification in the Amaranth commodities manipulation class action case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The motion seeks certification of all persons, corporations, and other legal entitied (other than defendants) who purchased or…