Barclays sued by fund for $850 million for Copper market abuse

Red Kite Management Ltd., the world’s largest metals hedge fund, is suing Barclays Plc for alleged market abuse in the copper market that it claims cost the firm at least $850 million between 2010 and 2013.

The case pits a $2 billion hedge fund against a bank that has been hit by a number of scandals in previous years, including large fines for manipulating Libor, the benchmark for interest rates.
Red Kite, whose co-founder is the former treasurer of the U.K. Conservative Party, alleges that Barclays allowed staff to share confidential information about its positions with the bank’s proprietary traders on the floor of the London Metal Exchange, according to court documents filed by the hedge fund in the U.K. High Court.

Barclays traders used the knowledge about Red Kite’s positions to profit by placing opposing trades, the fund said in court documents filed in October 2016, but only recently made public. Red Kite alleges the bank "sought to manipulate the LME by ‘ramping’ prices” to manipulate the closing price, a benchmark widely used by traders.

In a separate document, Barclays denied all the claims, saying that it had not mishandled Red Kite’s confidential information.

Source: Bloomberg Pro Terminal

Jr Trader Alexander Kumanov

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