On another note...did you all see this...recognize any names in the list?
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - Fourteen specialist firms have agreed to pay a total of $70 million in disgorgement and penalties to settle charges of improper proprietary trading, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday.
The SEC said it charged the specialist firms for violating their obligation to serve public customer orders over their own interests by "trading ahead" of customer orders, or "interpositioning" the firms' proprietary accounts between customer orders.
The firms who settled without admitting or denying the charges are: Botta Capital Management LLC; Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC; Group One Trading LP;
Knight Financial Products LLC;
Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing LP; SLK-Hull Derivatives LLC; Susquehanna Investment Group; TD Options LLC; Automated Trading Desk Specialists LLC; E*Trade Capital Markets LLC; Melvin Securities LLC; Melvin & Co LLC; Sydan LP; and TradeLink LLC.
"These firms violated the public trust by abusing the privileged position they had as specialists on the various exchanges," said James Clarkson, acting director of the SEC's New York office, in a statement.
The SEC said its investigation into the improper trading began with a referral from the agency's compliance inspections and examinations office.
The agency said the firms caused millions of dollars of customer harm from 1999 through 2005 by putting their own proprietary interests ahead of their obligation to public customers.
The SEC said its investigation is continuing.
Lawyers for E*trade; Susquehanna; Spear, Leeds & Kellogg; and Group One had no comment. Calls to lawyers representing the other firms were not immediately returned. (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski and Rachelle Younglai)
http://www.reuters.com/article/gover...12707820090304