Ashraf v. Republic New York Securities Corp.

14 F. Supp. 2d 461, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11570
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJuly 28, 1998
DocketNo. 98 Civ. 185(RLC)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 14 F. Supp. 2d 461 (Ashraf v. Republic New York Securities Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ashraf v. Republic New York Securities Corp., 14 F. Supp. 2d 461, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11570 (S.D.N.Y. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBERT L. CARTER, District Judge.

I. Introduction

Republic New York Securities Corp. (“RNYSC”), a registered broker/dealer in securities and a futures commission merchant (“FCM”) registered with the National Futures Association (“NFA”), moves pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., to vacate an arbitration award of $12,993,750 issued on December 29, 1997, by an NFA arbitration panel in favor of Zahid Hussain Ashraf and Shahida Zahid, husband and wife (hereafter collectively “Hussain”), citizens of Pakistan and residents of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Hussain cross moves to confirm the award.

The controversy arose over the handling of Hussain’s account by RNYSC. Since August 1994, Hussain had a commodities futures trading account with RNYSC in which Hus-sain traded almost exclusively in foreign currencies, particularly British pounds. In March, 1995, RNYSC doubled Hussain’s margin requirements. On March 1 and 2, RNYSC executed one half of Hussain’s trading orders and then liquidated the account.

The customer agreement provided for arbitration of any controversy arising from or relating to the account (Hussain Mem. at 4). Hussain filed a demand for arbitration on February 23, 1996. (Id.) A three member panel was appointed by NFA (id. at 5); the parties submitted a Joint Hearing Plan on March 11, 1997 (RNYSC Mem. at 9); the panel heard ten days of testimony commencing on March 24, 1997, with closing arguments on September 11, 1997 (id.); post-hearing briefs were filed simultaneously on November 14,1997. (Id. at 10).

On December 29,1997, the panel issued its award. As is not unusual, the panel issued no opinion explaining its decision. However, aside from the award at issue here, the panel explicitly denied Hussain’s claims against [463]*463RNYSC for punitive damages, treble damages, interest, attorneys fees and other costs.

RNYSC argues that a damages theory based upon the exchange of short British pounds forwards contracts into an equivalent quantity of short British pounds futures contracts (exchange of physicals, hereafter “EFP”), presumably how the award was formulated, was not addressed at the hearing; that no evidence was presented to support an award for damages relating to EFP (RNYSC Mem. at 3); that Hussain’s first damages calculation failed to mention or identify any damages resulting from failure to execute the EFP ordered on March 1, 1995 (id. at 8); that neither Hussain’s revised damages calculation nor his final damage calculation identified any EFP damages, (id.); that there was no mention of EFP in the Joint Hearing Plan, which serves a function similar to a pretrial brief or order (id. at 9); that no mention of EFP damages was testified to or mentioned by any witness or attorney during the ten days of hearings before the panel (id.); that in three pages of his fifty page post-hearing brief, Hussain for the first time raised the issue of RNYSC’s failure to execute the EFP ordered on March 1, 1995, and identified $12,993,750 as damages resulting from that failure (id. at 10); that prior to the post-hearing brief, “Hussain had never argued [entitlement] to damages [based on] any theory other than Close-Out Damages” (id. at 11); that since RNYSC had no advance notice of the EFP damages claim, it did not address the issue in its own post-hearing memorandum served at the same time; and being barred by the arbitration panel from filing additional memorandum, it could not address the issue as without merit and unfair in being raised by Hussain in circumstances when the argument could not have been challenged. (Id. at 12).

Hussain takes issue with these contentions. He asserts that RNYSC was instructed to convert his short British pounds forwards contracts into an equivalent quantity of short British pounds futures contracts. He complained that this EFP order was not fully executed; that RNYSC liquidated Hussain’s cash positions on the interbank market rather than on the futures exchange, where the liquidation would have taken place if the EFP of the cash positions into futures contracts had been executed as requested. (Hussain Mem. at 6-7). Hussain argues that the record supports the panel’s award. He relies on Exhibit 35 introduced at the arbitration hearing and filed here as Appendix E to Affidavit of Daniel J. Brooks in support of Hussain’s cross motion. That document shows cancellation on March 2, 1995 at 10:50 A.M. of a purchase of 437.5 million British pounds at a price of $1.5881 per pound for a total cost of $694,793,750, and three purchases of British pounds on the same day at $1.6178 per pound — 62.5 million at 1:52 P.M. for a total cost of $101,112,500; 125 million at 1:02 P.M. for a total cost of $202,225,000; 250 million at 1:56 P.M. for a total cost of $404,-450,000. The difference in costs to Hussain between what the document labels as a canceled transaction and the three purchases is $12,993,750, the amount of the award.

RNYSC contends that what Exhibit 35 lists as a March 2 cancellation was a failure to convert forwards into futures and was not a cancellation of an outright buy order (RNYSC Mem. at 18), and that Hussain misled the panel by confusing “the EFP transaction with an outright buy,” and that the 0.0297 price differential between the so-called canceled order and the three subsequent purchases was the exchange rate rise in the British pound between March 1 and March 2. (Id. at 18-19).

II. DETERMINATION

One of the bases for vacating an award provided under § 10(c) of the Federal Arbitration Act is when the arbitrators are guilty of misconduct “or any other misbehavior by which the rights of any party have been prejudiced.” RNYSC invokes this provision claiming that it was subjected to fundamental unfairness in the arbitration process when Hussain’s EFP theory of damages surfaced for the first time in his post-hearing submission, catching RNYSC by surprise, with no opportunity to establish that the claim was without merit. It argues that the process imposed by the panel in permitting RNYSC to be put in this position was fundamentally unfair and denied RNYSC a fair hearing.

[464]*464All parties are entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard. Totem Marine Tug & Barge, Inc. v. North Am. Towing, Inc., 607 F.2d 649, 661 (5th Cir.1979). However, defendant can prevail only if no “ground for the arbitrator^’] decision can be inferred from the facts of the case.” Sobel v. Hertz, Warner & Co., 469 F.2d 1211, 1216 (2d Cir.1972).

Arbitration panels’ determinations are generally accorded great deference, and there is a strong presumption in favor of enforcing arbitration awards. See, e.g., Moses H. Cone Memorial Hosp. v. Mercury Constr. Corp, 460 U.S. 1, 24-25, 103 S.Ct. 927, 74 L.Ed.2d 765 (1983). A party seeking to vacate an arbitration award has the burden of proof, see, Matter of Andros Compania Maritima, S.A. of Kissavos (Marc Rich & Co.,A.G.),

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Related

British Insurance Co. of Cayman v. Water Street Insurance
93 F. Supp. 2d 506 (S.D. New York, 2000)
Matter of Arb. Betw. Ashraf & Repub. Ny Securities
14 F. Supp. 2d 461 (S.D. New York, 1998)

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14 F. Supp. 2d 461, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ashraf-v-republic-new-york-securities-corp-nysd-1998.