Commodity Futures Trading v. R.J. Fitzgerald & Co.

• Citation: 310 F.3d 1321
• Decision Date: 29 October 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-14780.,01-14780.
• Parties: COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. R.J. FITZGERALD & CO., INC., Raymond Fitzgerald, Leiza Fitzgerald, Greg Burnett, Chuck Kowalski, Defendants-Cross-Claimants-Third-Party-Plaintiffs-Appellees, Al Coringrato, Defendant-Cross-Defendant, Scott Eubanks, John Rodgers, et al., Third-Party-Defendants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

Page 1321

310 F.3d 1321

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. R.J. FITZGERALD & CO., INC., Raymond Fitzgerald, Leiza Fitzgerald, Greg Burnett, Chuck Kowalski, Defendants-Cross-Claimants-Third-Party-Plaintiffs-Appellees, Al Coringrato, Defendant-Cross-Defendant, Scott Eubanks, John Rodgers, et al., Third-Party-Defendants.

No. 01-14780.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

October 29, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Nancy R. Page, Kirk T. Manhardt, Deputy General Counsel, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Constantine John Gekas, Alenna K. Bolin, Gekas & Associates, Ltd., Chicago, IL, Montgomery N. Kosma, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Jennifer Gately Loy, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants-Cross-Claimants-Third-Party-Plaintiffs-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before TJOFLAT, WILSON and COWEN,^* Circuit Judges.

COWEN, Circuit Judge:

Presented in this appeal is the question of liability for fraud and related allegations under the Commodities Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq., (the "CEA" or "Act") and accompanying regulations. Plaintiff/Appellant Commodities Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") appeals from a judgment finding all Defendants not liable under the Act for various solicitation and trading activities carried out at R.J. Fitzgerald & Company, Inc. ("RJFCO"). After reviewing the record in this matter, considering the submissions of the parties, and having benefitted from oral argument, we conclude that the District Court erred in not finding liability under the Act as a matter of law for two specific solicitation devices utilized by RJFCO: (1) a television commercial that aired on the "CNBC" cable network in March 1998 (The "Commercial") and (2) a promotional seminar for potential RJFCO customers that also took place in 1998 (the "Seminar"). For the reasons expressed below, we will reverse as to Raymond Fitzgerald, Leiza Fitzgerald and RJFCO, and remand only for enforcement proceedings against those two individuals and the firm.

I. Procedural Background

In 1999, CFTC commenced this CEA enforcement case by filing a Complaint against Defendants/Appellees RJFCO, Raymond Fitzgerald, Leiza Fitzgerald, Chuck Kowlaski, and Greg Burnett, alleging that they were involved in fraudulent solicitations to attract potential customers throughout the United States to invest in commodity options, in violation of the Act and related federal regulations.¹ This Complaint was dismissed essentially for failure to plead fraud with particularity.

The District Court then required CFTC to file an Amended Complaint detailing every fact it intended to prove in establishing liability under the ACT. CFTC complied with that request, filing an extensive 138 page, 15 count Complaint which sets the framework for the instant case. The Amended Complaint alleged that Defendants, or some individual Defendants, violated the Act by: (1) committing fraud by misrepresentation or omission of material facts in connection with the solicitation, maintenance, or execution of commodity futures transactions; (2) operating an introducing brokerage firm to cheat, defraud, deceive, or attempt to cheat, defraud or deceive clients; (3) trading client accounts excessively in order to generate commissions without regard to customer interests ("churning"); (4) failing to provide risk disclosure statements prior to the opening of RJFCO customer accounts; and (5) failing to supervise firm personnel diligently. Defendant Raymond Fitzgerald was charged with "controlling person" liability under the Act. The various allegations in the Amended Complaint encompass claims grounded in 7 U.S.C. § 6c(b), 17 C.F.R. § 33.10(a) and (c), 17 C.F.R. § 166.3, and 7 U.S.C. § 13c(b).

Counts one, two, seven and nine alleged that Raymond Fitzgerald, as principal of RJFCO, RJFCO, Leiza Fitzgerald and Greg Burnett committed fraud by misrepresentation or omission of material facts in connection with the solicitation of commodity futures transactions. Counts three, ten and fifteen charged Raymond Fitzgerald, as principal of RJFCO, RJFCO, Greg Burnett and Chuck Kowalski with operating an introducing brokerage to cheat, defraud, deceive, or attempt to cheat, defraud or deceive clients. Counts four and eleven charged Raymond Fitzgerald, RJFCO, and Greg Burnett with committing fraud by trading client accounts excessively to generate commissions without regard to client interests. Count five charged Raymond Fitzgerald and RJFCO with failing to provide adequate risk disclosure statements prior to opening customer accounts. Counts six, eight, and twelve charged Raymond Fitzgerald, Leiza Fitzgerald and Greg Burnett with failing to supervise diligently the sales practices and solicitations of RJFCO brokers.

After some of the claims in the Amended Complaint were dismissed on summary judgment, the parties agreed, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and Fed.R.Civ.P. 73, to conduct a bench trial before a Magistrate Judge.² That trial commenced on February 26, 2001. On March 8, 2001, the Court heard oral argument and granted what it labeled a "directed verdict" against a significant part of the CFTC's case. Germaine to this appeal, and as will be explained further below, the District Court granted relief to Defendants on that part of the CFTC's claim that the Commercial violated the Act as well as on the claim that Defendants had a duty to disclose their specific trading record (i.e., their success rate) to potential customers.

The trial pressed forward to completion on the remaining claims in the Amended Complaint and concluded on March 19, 2001. Thereafter, the District Court entered extensive findings of fact and conclusions of law, ruling in favor of all Defendants on all counts in the Amended Complaint. See CFTC v. R.J. Fitzgerald & Co., Inc., 173 F.Supp.2d 1295 (M.D.Fla. 2001). CFTC appeals, essentially arguing that regardless of the Court's factual findings based on witness credibility, Defendants committed fraud and other CEA violations as a matter of law.

II. Background Facts

A. The Defendants

RJFCO was a full service "introducing broker" at all times relevant to this appeal. See 7 U.S.C. § 1a. RJFCO's obligations to those with whom it dealt were guaranteed by Iowa Grain Company ("Iowa Grain"), a registered futures commission merchant. RJFCO opened for business in 1992. It operated as a firm designed to service small customer accounts, where the customer base had little experience in commodities markets. RJFCO operated in a perhaps unique manner in the commodities industry in that it used one team of sales brokers for generating customers via telephone calls and a separate team of brokers and traders to do the actual trades and monitor accounts. Defendant Raymond Fitzgerald was the principal of RJFCO and was responsible for all decisions, actions, and trading recommendations made or entered into by the firm. Defendant Leiza Fitzgerald's responsibilities at RJFCO involved developing training materials and training sales brokers. Greg Burnett was an associated person at RJFCO and was responsible for supervising traders and brokers. Chuck Kowalski was RJFCO's chief financial analyst, responsible for studying the commodities markets and developing trades and trade strategies.

B. Customer Solicitation Devices

At the heart of this appeal are two solicitation devices used by RJFCO to attract customers to invest in options on futures contracts: the Commercial and the Seminar.

1. The Commercial

The Commercial stated that "the El Nino [weather phenomenon] has struck where expected, and if patterns continue, the effects could be devastating. Droughts, floods, and other adverse conditions could drastically alter the supply and demand dynamics of the corn market...." The Commercial also declared that "[w]ith the giant developing nations, such as China and Russia badly in need of grains and world grain supplies put to the test, conditions may exist for profits as high as 200 to 300 percent." This was accompanied by a graphic statement on the television screen that the percentages were a mathematical example of leverage. The Commercial further asserted that "the potential of the corn market may never be greater. Tight U.S. reserves coupled with domestic and worldwide demands could be the formula for a trade you won't want to miss. Find out how as little as $5,000 could translate into profits as high as 200 to 300 percent. Call R.J. Fitzgerald today...."

The Commercial was initially drafted by an advertising agency. When Raymond Fitzgerald first received the script, he edited it to add additional risk disclosures that would appear just above the firm's phone number, so that anyone watching the Commercial would see the risk disclosure. He further insisted that this disclosure appear more than half the time the Commercial was running. After his edits were done, he sent the script to Iowa Grain's chief compliance officer, Anne Farris. Iowa Grain approved the script on February 18, 1998.

The Commercial actually ran on CNBC for the first half of March, 1998, but did not generate much business. In total, it appeared about eight or nine times and was then discontinued. At some point after its discontinuation, Raymond Fitzgerald was contacted by a National Futures Association ("NFA")³ compliance officer, who expressed concern over the Commercial's content. More specifically, the NFA officer, David Croom, informed Raymond Fitzgerald that the Commercial was in apparent violation of NFA rules because: (1) it was misleading in that it failed to tell potential customers that the options spoken of were "out-of-the money options" that would require a dramatic move in the options premium value in order for the customer to see gains equal to that claimed in the Commercial; (2) misleadingly gave the impression that weather events were inevitable; (3) did not display the risk of...