The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and former HSBC executive Christophe Rivoire have secured additional time for completing discovery.
On September 22, 2021, Judge J. Paul Oetken of the New York Southern District Court granted the parties’ request to extend the discovery deadline until January 31, 2022. This means that the CFTC and Rivoire will have extra time to conduct certain witness depositions.
Let’s recall that the CFTC charged Christophe Rivoire with market manipulation and fraud, in violation of Section 6(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA” or the “Act”) and Rule 180.1 in relation to a 2012 interest rate swap transaction between HSBC and a Japanese bond issuer (the “2012 Transaction”).
In 2012, Mr Rivoire was the head of HSBC’s North American rates business. He was not directly involved in trading related to the problematic transaction, but the CFTC alleges that he instructed a junior trader to engage in market manipulation and fraud in relation to the transaction.
The CFTC and Mr Rivoire had clashed on the deposition manner. The CFTC argues that the depositions have to be remote, whereas the defendant says they have to be in-person, with any party wishing to participate remotely to be provided with such an option. Regarding the depositions, the Court has sided with the regulator.