Our city regulators have recently warned us that commodity and Fx traders are ignoring the lessons of the Libor rigging scandal and not putting adequate measures together to prevent further abuses . Banks & trading houses are failing to monitor traders and
still operate inadequate surveillance systems .
The FCA issued this caution after a conducted review of the oil metals & other commodities markets . They also said "Many firms had not embedded the lessons learnt from recent market abuse cases ( libor , fx and gold ); they also reminded firms to take note
of the outcome of recent enforcement cases .
"Flipping Hell" has been seen muttered from many honest traders lips this year as regulators and exchanges were constantly warned via phone ;email & other messages of many market manipulations ; flipping ;layering;spoofing; crossing etc ; and yet not only
decided to take no action BUT actually denied any abuse was occurring ! Flipping Hell between 2004 -2014 ; CME ; LIFFE and Eurex were made very aware of these market abuses and even the FSA conducted an investigation and ALL decided to to nothing and one exchange
even sent out a message to the market place
"just because you are losing monies does not make it abusive trading !" .
Navindar Singh Saroa ; the hound of Hounslow; has been charged with 22 counts of fraud and market manipulation , mostly guilty of "flipping " his favourite S&P contract on CME exchange .
Myself and many other honest traders have contacted the exchange supervision depts many times over this period , often offering video evidence and time & sales proof added with decades of trading experience , YET every time our shouts were in vain and repeatedly
ignored , "Flipping Hell !" these market abuses could easily have been stopped at source had exchanges wanted to ; they had the resources to suspend certain keys and withdraw traders rights and licence to operate on their products . Regulators hands appear
to have been tied as exchanges denied any knowledge of manipulation yet sadly years later it appears that abuse was blatant in most contracts being regulated !
"Flipping Hell" the regulators caution to trading houses perhaps should be directed at exchanges to provide a "fair & orderly market ".
The main lesson I have learnt from the Libor and FX abuses are very clear ...... Exchanges and regulators were not at their desks ! Perhaps we should ask "where the flipping hell were they ?"