Washington, D.C. – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it has filed a Notice of Intent to Revoke the Registrations of Allianz Global Investors US LLC (AGI US), a Delaware limited liability company. The CFTC simultaneously issued an Opinion and Order accepting the settlement offer from AGI US and settling the action. The order revokes AGI US’s registrations with the CFTC as a commodity trading advisor and commodity pool operator.  

Pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), the notice alleged AGI US was subject to statutory disqualification of its registrations based on a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order that found AGI US violated multiple anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. In re Allianz Global Invs. U.S. LLC, SEC No. 3-20855, 2022 WL 1644317 (May 17, 2022) (SEC order). 

The SEC order found that AGI US, through three portfolio managers, engaged in a massive fraudulent scheme in which it made numerous misrepresentations and omissions to the institutional investors of funds that employed a complex securities options trading strategy called Structured Alpha. Specifically, the SEC order found that AGI US misrepresented to investors the significant downside risks and actual performance of the Structured Alpha funds. According to the SEC order, the 2020 COVID-related market volatility exposed AGI US’s scheme and revealed that the Structured Alpha funds and their investors suffered billions of dollars in losses as a result of AGI US’s misconduct.

The CFTC’s order finds that AGI US is subject to statutory disqualification from registration with the CFTC pursuant to CEA Section 8a(2)(E)(i) and revokes AGI US’s registrations under the terms in the order.

The CFTC thanks the National Futures Association for its assistance in this matter.

The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this matter are Stephen Turley, Paul M. Flucke, Rachel Hayes, Jeff Le Riche, Christopher Reed, Charles D. Marvine, and former staff member Daniel Contrastano.