Deutsche Bank Tried to Dismiss Spoofing Claims at Illinois Court

Documents filed by Deutsche Bank on April 16, 2021 showed that the conglomerate is trying to dismiss the complaint against it at Illinois Northern District Court. It was accused of spoofing the market for US Treasury futures products and Eurodollar futures products in 2013 by a list of plaintiffs including Rock Capital Markets, LLC; Atlantic Trading USA, LLC; Charles Herbert Proctor, III; Robert Charles Class A, L.P.; Todd Rowan; David Vecchione.

Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Complaint claimed that Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc unlawfully “spoofed” US Treasury futures products and Eurodollar futures products during calendar year 2013. But Deutsche Bank made it clear it would oppose the complaint. 

In the document, the bank a
rgued that the plaintiffs fail to allege facts that satisfy any of the necessary elements of a claim for manipulation, that:

Defendants possessed the ability to influence prices of EDFs or Treasury Futures;

an artificial price existed;

Defendants’ misconduct caused the artificial price to exist; and

Defendants specifically intended to cause that artificial price.

For instance, Deutsche Bank pointed out that the complaint failed to provide any facts as to how it manipulated the market price through spoofed trades or any fluctuations that were “likely not due to chance in a competitive market.” The bank further claimed that plaintiffs failed to identify any transactions, the direction of manipulation, or whether they paid more or accepted less, as courts require.

In this February, Deutsche Bank became a benchmark in customer service since it was rewarded the best service quality in Spain.​