Are DOJ’s F/X Prosecutions Ahead of the Law on “Trading Ahead”?

April 11, 2019  |  New York Law Journal

Two recent prosecutions in the foreign exchange (F/X) market raise questions about the use of general criminal statutes to regulate a trading practice that Congress, specialized regulators, and market rules have declined to prohibit. Both cases deal with a practice that bankers refer to as pre-positioning, which the government pejoratively labels “trading ahead” or “front running,” in the context of complex, multi-billion dollar F/X trades between sophisticated parties. In this article, we discuss the appeal of the conviction in one such case and the court’s dismissal of the charges in the other.

Are DOJ’s F/X Prosecutions Ahead of the Law on “Trading Ahead”? (pdf | 243.02 KB)