Nguyen v. FXCM Inc.

364 F. Supp. 3d 227
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 1, 2019
DocketCase No.: 1:17-cv-2729-PAC-HBP; Case No.: 1:17-cv-4699-PAC-HBP
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 364 F. Supp. 3d 227 (Nguyen v. FXCM Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nguyen v. FXCM Inc., 364 F. Supp. 3d 227 (S.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

HONORABLE PAUL A. CROTTY, United States District Judge:

This is a consolidated securities class action1 , alleging that Defendants failed to disclose a conflict with Effex Capital, LLC ("Effex"), the leading foreign currency exchange ("forex") trading platform for FXCM, Inc., Forex Capital Markets, LLC, *232and FXCM Holdings, LLC (collectively, "FXCM"). According to Plaintiffs, FXCM hired Defendant John Dittami to create the forex trading platform Effex, which FXCM spun off but retained control over. FXCM presented its forex trading system as designed to produce better results for customers because, unlike the "dealing desk" model, it was inherently conflict-free. But Plaintiffs claim that these representations hid an obvious conflict with Effex, which was winning the majority of orders over banks and other "market makers" because it had secret access to view customers' orders, despite FXCM's promises of anonymity. Plaintiffs also allege that FXCM, through Effex, took positions opposite clients in stark contradiction with FXCM's marketing and engaged in harmful practices that violated the duties and obligations owed to its customers. According to Plaintiffs, Effex and Dittami acted under the direction of FXCM and aided and abetted FXCM's fraud.

In 2017, FXCM entered into settlements with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and National Futures Association ("NFA") regarding these practices and undisclosed relationship with Effex, and FXCM agreed to withdraw from operating in the United States.

On October 26, 2017, this Court stayed this action pending arbitration as to claims against Defendants FXCM, Dror Niv, and William Adhout, but not with respect to claims against Defendants Effex and Dittami. (Dkt. 37.) Accordingly, only the six counts (out of eleven total) alleged against Effex and Dittami are at issue here: Counts II, III, IV, V, VI, and X.

Defendants Effex and Dittami move to strike references to settlements with the CFTC and NFA and move to dismiss the six counts at issue pursuant to Rules 9(b) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. After careful consideration of the pleadings and briefing, the Court DENIES the motion to strike and GRANTS the motion to dismiss without prejudice.

BACKGROUND

I. FXCM Develops No Dealing Desk Model

According to the Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint (Dkt. 48) ("Complaint" or "Compl."), FXCM was an online provider of forex trading services that offered a platform for customers to invest in the forex market-the largest and most actively traded financial market in the world. (Compl. ¶¶ 55, 57.) Forex trading involves the exchange of one currency for another. (Id. ¶ 56.) Trades on the forex market usually occur in over-the-counter transactions with a dealer rather than through a central exchange, making them less regulated, more reliant on the "market makers" or dealers who buy and sell currencies, and more susceptible to manipulation than trading in other markets. (See id. ¶¶ 55-56, 65-67.)

In 2007, FXCM transitioned from a "dealing desk" model for executing forex trades, in which a division of FXCM determined prices offered and took positions opposite to customers, (id. ¶ 59), to an "agency" or "no dealing desk" ("NDD") model, in which price quotations were provided by third-party market makers to customers whose orders were to be kept confidential, (id. ¶ 60).

II. Effex Becomes Market Maker For FXCM

In 2009, FXCM hired a high frequency trader, Dittami, to create a high frequency trading algorithm for the new NDD model. (Id. ¶¶ 102-03.) Dittami's contract with FXCM guaranteed him a base salary plus 30% of any profits generated by the system, with FXCM retaining the remaining *23370% (the "Rebate Payments"). (Id. ¶¶ 103-104.) In 2010, this high frequency trading system spun off from FXCM and became a new company-Effex-where Dittami went to work with the same profit-splitting agreement. (Id. ¶¶ 106-108.) Though Dittami had technically resigned from FXCM, he continued to work at FXCM's offices in New York rent-free for a year and use FXCM's servers and email systems. (Id. ¶¶ 110-11.)

Effex paid FXCM monthly for order flow through the Rebate Payments.2 (Id. ¶ 113.) FXCM allowed Effex to win all ties with other market makers, shared other market makers' price quotations with Effex, and added smaller markups to Effex's prices than it added for other market makers. (Id. ¶ 117.) As a result, Effex won a disproportionately higher percentage of orders compared to other market makers, potentially depriving customers of better prices. Effex's monthly payments to FXCM totaled nearly $ 80 million, and Effex captured over 50% of FXCM's daily order flow. (Id. ¶ 140.)

III. FXCM's Relationship With Effex

FXCM was not forthcoming about its relationship with Effex. (See Compl. ¶ 90.) For example, in its 2010 Annual Report, FXCM included a graphic showing the percentage of volume of each liquidity provider on the NDD platform: BNP (13.5%); Citi (8.0%); Citi-Prime Broker (All Others) (35.8%); Deutsche Bank (3.5%); Dresdner (13.3%); Goldman (14.4%); JP Morgan (3.6%); Morgan Stanley (8.0%). (Id. ¶ 145.) The 35.8% of trades executed by "Citi-Prime Broker (All Others)" was mostly, if not completely, attributable to Effex. (Id. ¶ 147.)

In September 2012, in a rare if not singular public recognition of any relationship with Effex, FXCM's Brand Ambassador stated on an online forum that "FXCM does not own [Effex], nor do they have control over what orders can go to other liquidity providers." (Id. ¶ 149.)

IV. FXCM's Representations about NDD3

According to FXCM, the NDD model was at the "heart" of FXCM's business, (id. ¶ 82), and was uniquely suited to eliminate conflicts of interest and price manipulation, providing a better result for the customer, (see id. ¶¶ 61, 77, 78, 81, 83, 85, 162, 164, 166, 168, 170). The NDD model was supposed to anonymize customers' orders so that market makers would compete to offer the best available price to customers and could not stake out positions contrary to customers. (See id. ¶ 79.) At the same time, as FXCM explained in its client agreements with Plaintiffs, the NDD model was supposed to be transparent and fair, because FXCM's profits depended on standardized markups, rather than taking positions contrary to customers. (Id. ¶¶ 60, 81, 94, 95-97.) To put it in FXCM's own words from its website4 :

FXCM makes an identical amount of money in the form of pip markups *234(which are really commissions) regardless of whether the customer made or lost money on the account. FXCM receives prices from global banks, financial institutions, and other market makers in the foreign exchange markets. A best bid/offer engine sorts those prices and marks them up with our standard markup on the majors. This markup acts as the commission on the trade.

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Bluebook (online)
364 F. Supp. 3d 227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nguyen-v-fxcm-inc-ilsd-2019.