December 18, 2014

CFTC Revokes Registrations of Illinois Resident Aleks A. Kins and Chicago-based AlphaMetrix, LLC

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it has revoked the registration of Aleks A. Kins of Chicago, Illinois, as an Associated Person and the registrations of AlphaMetrix, LLC (AlphaMetrix), a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business located in Chicago, Illinois, as a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) and Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA). The CFTC issued Orders revoking the registrations simultaneous with its filing of Notices of Intent to Suspend, Revoke, or Restrict Registration of Kins (Kins Notice) and AlphaMetrix (AlphaMetrix Notice), which alleged that the Registrants were subject to statutory disqualification based upon conduct prohibited by the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

The AlphaMetrix Notice alleges that AlphaMetrix was subject to disqualification of its registration based on the December 16, 2014 entry of a Consent Order for permanent injunction against the company in CFTC v. Alphametrix, LLC, et al., No. 1:13-cv-7896 (N.D. Ill.), which permanently enjoins AlphaMetrix from further violating anti-fraud provisions of the CEA, as charged, and requires it to pay restitution of $2.8 million and a civil monetary penalty of $2.8 million (see CFTC Press Release 7083-14). The District Court’s Order stems from a CFTC Complaint filed on November 4, 2013, alleging that AlphaMetrix agreed to pay $2.8 million in rebates to some of its commodity pool participants by investing the rebate funds in commodity pools, but instead transferred the funds to its parent company, AlphaMetrix Group, LLC (AlphaMetrix Group) and sent the participants account statements that included the rebate funds as if they had been invested, even though they were not (see CFTC Press Release 6767-13).

The Kins Notice alleges that the employees and officers of AlphaMetrix and AlphaMetrix Group who engaged in this conduct were subject to Kins’s supervision, and Kins failed to supervise them with a view to preventing violations of the CEA.

Kins and AlphaMetrix each consented to the revocation of their respective registrations by the CFTC, and the CFTC’s Orders accept their offers of settlement.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this action are Stephanie Reinhart, David Terrell, Joseph Patrick, Scott Williamson, and Rosemary Hollinger.

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Last Updated: December 18, 2014