Moore Capital Former Manager Is Banned From Platinum Trading
July 25, 2011, 7:12 PM EDTBy Debarati Roy
(Updates with statement from Pia Capital in fifth paragraph.)
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- A former Moore Capital Management LP portfolio manager was barred from trading palladium and platinum on the New York Mercantile Exchange as part of a settlement over charges that he attempted to manipulate prices.
Christopher Louis Pia agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle allegations of irregular trading from November 2007 and May 2008, according to an order issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Last year, Moore Capital, the $15 billion hedge fund run by Louis Bacon, agreed to pay $25 million to settle allegations by the commission that a former portfolio manager, who was unnamed then, attempted to manipulate platinum and palladium futures during a surge in prices.
According to today’s order, the CFTC said Pia used buy orders in the closing moments of trading on the Nymex to boost settlement prices from November 2007 through May 2008. The orders “frequently accounted for a significant portion of the volume” in the two thinly traded markets, the regulator said.
“Christopher Pia is pleased to have settled with the CFTC in order to put this matter behind him,” according to a statement his company issued through a public relations firm, ASC Advisors LLC. “Pia Capital, his current firm, is committed to abiding by the CFTC order and to maintaining the highest level of compliance.”
Platinum futures rose 39 percent from Nov. 1, 2007, to May 30, 2008, touching a record $2,308.80 an ounce on March 4, and palladium jumped 17 percent. The metals are used in jewelry and pollution-control components for cars.
Pia sought to influence the exchange’s volume-weighted settlement price with buy orders for 20 to 100 contracts, according to the agency. A platinum contract is 50 ounces, and a palladium contract is 100 ounces.
--With assistance from Steve Stroth in Chicago. Editors: Steve Stroth, Flynn McRoberts
To contact the reporter on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net
