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For Immediate Release
April 14, 2015
For more information contact:
Karen Wuertz (312) 781-1335, kwuertz@nfa.futures.org
NFA orders Memphis, Tenn. firm BLS AG Futures LLC and its principal, Brian L. Swords, to pay $105,000 fine
April 14, Chicago — National Futures Association (NFA) has ordered BLS AG Futures LLC (BLS) and Brian L. Swords to pay a $105,000 fine. BLS is an NFA Member commodity trading advisor located in Memphis, Tenn. Swords is the sole principal and associated person of the firm. The Decision, issued by NFA's Business Conduct Committee (BCC), is based on a Complaint, and a settlement offer submitted by BLS and Swords.
The Complaint alleges that BLS failed to maintain an audit trail of bunched customer order allocations that was objective and specific enough to permit independent verification of the fairness of the allocations and sufficient to demonstrate that the firm used a defined methodology. The Complaint further alleges that BLS failed to enact required procedures regarding allocations from bunched customer orders. The Complaint also charged Swords with failure to diligently supervise BLS' operations.
Post-execution allocation is a procedure during which an account manager is permitted to bunch customer orders together for execution, and to allocate them to individual accounts by no later than the end of the day. Bunching of orders involves an account manager placing trades for two or more customers at the same time in the same order. After the bunched orders are executed, an account manager must assign the trades to customers' accounts, a process known as allocation.
BLS and Swords neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
The complete text of the Complaint and Decision can be viewed on NFA's website.