Bank of America Now Gets Away with Illegal Futures Manipulation

[EliteTrader202]

Bank of America Now Gets Away with Illegal Stock Manipulation

Bank of America has gotten away with illegal stock manipulation after agreeing to pay $5.56 million, according to the Justice Department.

franknezmedia.com

Bank of America Securities has agreed to fork over $5.56 million to settle a U.S. Department of Justice probe into alleged market manipulation by its former traders, but for everyday investors who feel perpetually shortchanged by Wall Street, the deal feels like just another rigged game.

The resolution, announced this week, covers a scheme that spanned from 2014 to 2020 and involved spoofing in U.S. Treasuries markets—tactics that distorted prices and eroded trust in one of the world’s most vital financial arenas.

At its core, the case zeroed in on two ex-traders on BofA’s U.S. Treasuries desk who allegedly placed hundreds of fake orders to manipulate both cash and futures markets.

 

[Lea S]

Spoofing cases like this are exactly why many intraday traders stopped relying on “clean” orderflow years ago.
Treasuries, metals and even FX futures are full of micro-manipulation — not always large scandals, often just
algorithmic liquidity games that trigger stops and sweep thin zones.

For short-term traders the takeaway is simple:
• price is real, orderflow is not
• liquidity pools attract attacks
• micro-impulses are often manufactured, not organic
• and most fake moves happen during low-liquidity minutes

I don’t think this case is surprising at all — it’s just one of the few times it becomes public.
The actual day-to-day spoofing pressure is much larger and usually goes unnoticed because it happens
within milliseconds.

Curious if anyone here actively adapts their intraday strategy to these microstructure patterns?