A federal judge's decision to acquit Robert Bogucki, a former Barclays foreign currency options trader who'd been charged with fraud, shocked prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice and opened questions about how the government will prosecute such cases in the future.
On March 4, 2019, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer cleared Bogucki of all charges after hearing several days' worth of evidence that Bogucki had misled Barclays client Hewlett-Packard in an effort to profit at the company's expense when handling a foreign currency options trade. In acquitting Bogucki, Judge Breyer said he believed no rational jury could convict him based on the evidence presented and that the government had been wrong to "assume the role of nanny of the FX options market."
Speaking to Law360, Scott Schirick, co-head of Pryor Cashman's Securities Litigation + Regulatory Enforcement practice, said the fact pattern in Bogucki's case was typical of the market.
"Arm's-length, principal-to-principal trades with no agent or fiduciary relationship are the norm. The court's ruling is going to make future FX front-running cases very difficult for the government," Schirick said.
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