The National Futures Association (NFA) has taken an emergency enforcement action against Prodigy Asset Management (PAM), a commodity pool operator (CPO) and commodity trading advisor (CTA) located in New York City, and its principal Ezekiel Abdel Rahman.
NFA has taken the Member Responsibility Action (MRA) and Associate Responsibility Action (ARA) to protect investors because PAM and Rahman have failed to cooperate with NFA in its attempts to confirm information provided in various filings made by PAM and Rahman regarding PAM’s CPO and CTA operations.
On 7 January 2013, NFA contacted Rahman seeking verification of certain information that had been previously given to NFA by PAM. Specifically, Rahman had represented to NFA that the Hybrid High Growth Fund, the only pool which PAM represented was operating, had a net asset value of USD250,000. However, NFA’s investigation found only one Hybrid Fund account at an FCM. As of 31 December 2012, the account held approximately USD94. Subsequently, Rahman has failed to cooperate with NFA’s several attempts to discuss the matter with him.
PAM and Rahman are prohibited from soliciting or accepting any customer or pool participant funds or placing trades for any pools that they operate or accounts that they own or control or which are held in either of their names except for liquidation of existing positions. They are also prohibited from disbursing any funds from any customer and/or pool accounts, or any other trading an depository accounts which they own or control or which are held in either of their names, without prior approval from NFA.
The MRA and ARA will remain in effect until such time as PAM and Rahman demonstrate to the satisfaction of NFA that they are in complete compliance with all NFA requirements. Prodigy Asset Management and Rahman may request a hearing before NFA’s yearing committee.