Firm where ‘Flash Crash trader’ first worked fails
Harry Wilson, City Editor
June 3 2016, 12:01am, The Times
The firm that taught Navinder Sarao, the alleged Flash Crash trader, how to play the markets has gone bust after one of its largest traders took out an injunction against it, having been told that he was unable to withdraw millions of pounds of his own money from it.
Futex is understood to have called in administrators last month after the action taken by Gabriele Gandini, an algorithmic trader who told the firm that he wanted to leave.
The City of London-based business came to prominence last year after it was revealed as the place where Mr Sarao learned to trade and earned his initial multimillion-pound fortune as a big player on the financial futures market.
In common with many proprietary trading businesses, Futex pooled its traders’ money with larger and more successful traders’ capital being used to help to fund stakes for those starting out.
New junior traders are not paid a wage but can keep half of what they earn in trading profits. The more successful a trader becomes the greater the proportion of profits they can keep, with so-called elite traders retaining up to 95 per cent of their profits.
Futex is understood to have been under pressure since Lee Gibbs, its star trader, left last year, withdrawing his trading account, which was understood to be worth as much as £30 million.
Mr Gibbs’s funds were a big source of trading capital for the business and his departure led to Futex shutting its Woking office and moving its traders to an office in the Square Mile of London.
Companies House accounts for a firm linked to Gabriele Gandini show that it had net assets as of March 31, 2015, of nearly £620,000, up more than £200,000 year on year. The latest accounts for Gabriele Gandini Ltd have yet to be filed and are listed as overdue.
Contacted by The Times, Marco Rossi, a founder of Futex, declined to comment on the company’s administration. Dan Goldberg, a senior manager, did not reply to an email seeking comment. Calls and a message to Futex’s London office went unanswered.
Futexlive, Futex’s YouTube channel, has not been updated since May 25. However, subscribers to the Futexlive mailing list received emails offering a 60 per cent discount on a £1,499 “virtual intensive trader training programme” for June 6 as part of what the firm said was a “72 hour flash sale”.
