♦U.S. vs. Thakkar: Non-Traders Beware♦
One of the most fascinating panel discussions at last week’s Futures Industry Association Law & Compliance Conference in Washington, D.C. focused on the recent Jitesh Thakkar spoofing case.
The panel included moderator Marc Nagel, an attorney and chief consultant for Exchange Analytics Inc.; Gary DeWaal, Special Counsel with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and author of the popular Bridging the Week newsletter; and Renato Mariotti, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, now a partner with Thompson Coburn and the only attorney to win spoofing cases for the prosecution (U.S. vs. Coscia) and for the defense (U.S. vs. Thakkar).
This is a significant case in that a criminal spoofing charge was levied against a non-trader — an example of “regulatory creep” according to DeWaal. Thakkar is a software developer who coded the algorithm that enabled the spoofing to take place.
John Lothian News Contributing Editor and derivatives specialist Thom Thompson covered the Law and Compliance Conference and published this article.
