By Eric Onstad LONDON (Reuters) -A whistleblower said employees at Marex Group plc improperly shared an investment fund's confidential information to benefit Marex's own trading position, the fund has
Whistleblower Claims Marex Misused Confidential Fund Information
By Eric Onstad
LONDON (Reuters) -A whistleblower said employees at Marex Group plc improperly shared an investment fund's confidential information to benefit Marex's own trading position, the fund has alleged in a court filing.
Ocean Freight Trident Offshore Master Fund Ltd, which took legal action last month against commodities broker and financial group Marex, said it lost at least $29 million when Marex liquidated its positions in freight futures last November.
It said in a court document filed on Monday that it was provided with information by a person "who has identified themselves as an anonymous whistleblower".
"The whistleblower sent an email on the evening of 28 November 2024 which suggested... Marex's clearing desk leaked information regarding the (Ocean Freight) account to Marex's proprietary trading business," it said.
A Marex spokesperson said: "Marex is aware of the legal action and very confident in our position, which we intend to defend robustly."
According to the filing, the Ocean Freight fund had by last November developed a profitable trading strategy in forward freight agreements.
The market went against its positions and there were outstanding margin calls of $2.5 million, which the fund agreed to address by selling certain positions, the court document said.
Marex sent a notice of default on November 27 and the next morning ordered Ocean Freight to stop trading so Marex could liquidate all its positions, the filing said, assuring the fund that the forced liquidation would take place in Ocean Freight's best interest.
But the fund alleged that the liquidation took place below the daily lows recorded by the three major ship brokers and did not take place on the European Energy Exchange.
Marex's own proprietary trading unit had taken short positions in the same freight derivatives, which profited from the forced liquidation, Ocean Freight alleged.
In response, Marex's solicitors said in a letter to the fund that it had undertaken risk mitigation trades, which were "standard practice in the industry".
"Marex's own proprietary trading account... assumed the market risk from the time of default," the Marex solicitors' letter was quoted as saying in the court document.
(Reporting by Eric Onstad; Editing by Jan Harvey)
