Goldman: Pwned?

[Jan Klimkowski]

:listen:

Lastly, and somewhat most peculiarly, Jean-Pierre Aguillard (together with his co-pilot), died in a freak glider accident over the weekend. Many have not heard of Aguilard: it may be surprising for people to learn that he is the French equivalent of Jim Simons, as his firm Capital Fund Management, with $2.7 billion in assets, is one of the largest French hedge funds and at the forefront of electronic and program trading. Curiously, CFM was in the news as recently as on April 22, 2009, CFM replaced its legacy market data distribution system with NYSE Technologies' Market Data Platform at its New York and Paris operations. In fact Automated Trader has quite an in depth article on what happened a mere two months ago in an article titled "Capital Fund Management selects NYSE Technologies for new electronic trading platform."

NYSE Technologies has announced that Capital Fund Management (CFM), the French private hedge fund, has licensed its high-speed real-time market data distribution and integration software.

CFM has replaced its legacy market data distribution system with NYSE Technologies' Market Data Platform at its New York and Paris operations. NYSE Technologies’ sub-millisecond feed handlers and high performance Middleware Agnostic Messaging API (MAMA) deliver data to CFM’s trading systems, which handle 100% of the firm’s order flow electronically.

Jacques Sauliere, Chief Operating Officer at CFM, commented, “Since we connect to all major US, European and Asian markets, NYSE Technologies was the clear choice considering the breadth of coverage available through its extensive range of feed handlers, its cutting-edge market data distribution platform and comprehensive value-added services.”

NYSE Technologie will provides CFM with connectivity to a mix of direct market data feeds including NYSE OpenBook, NYSE ARCA Options, NASDAQ ITCH and CME Multicast. This is complemented with connectivity to a vendor consolidated data feed. Sauliere explains, “The consolidated datafeed serves as a back-up, providing the optimal mix of resilience and coverage needed for CFM’s global trading operations.”

Sauliere adds, “During the implementation phase, NYSE Technologies provided us with the ability to work alongside our existing middleware vendor while we transitioned to our new low-latency platform. We were able to consolidate our use of APIs by using its middleware API and write all of our applications to MAMA with the ability to upgrade our middleware in line with technology advances.”

In addition, CFM also uses NYSE Technologies’ Data Access and Reporting Tools (DART) Entitlements to control user and application access to the market data feeds and report on unused or underused market data services. Other value-added services include performance monitoring and a real-time tick capture adapter that consumes data from any industry standard or ODBC database for post-processing of internal data.“CFM is a pioneer in the adoption of pure electronic trading systems generating value for their investors. Being trusted with their business in New York and Paris is something we’re extremely proud of and validates our strategy in serving the buy-side,” said Stanley Young, CEO of NYSE Technologies and Co-Global CIO of NYSE Euronext.

“CFM’s enterprise deployment firmly secures NYSE Technologies as the partner of choice for connectivity, transaction solutions and data management services at the world’s largest and most active trading firms and leading markets.” (highlights mine)


Zero Hedge extends its condolences to Aguilard's family. We, of course, hope that the fund's recent close entanglement with the NYSE for program trading facilitation and the loss of the fund's CEO are purely coincidental, especially in these difficult times for the integrity of program trading courtesy of Goldman Sachs' recently disclosed scandals.

http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/07/in...tions.html

Hmmm what was it that Michael Riconoscuito claims to have done to Inslaw's PROMIS software?

Oh yeah - he claimed to have reprogrammed Inslaw's case-management program (Promis) with a secret "back-door" to allow clandestine tracking of individuals and bank details by certain US agencies.

Here's Mikey's affidavit that got him disgraced and locked up in Terminal Island (my emphasis):

6. Among the frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture
were Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.,
and a close associate of Videnieks by the name of Earl W. Brian. Brian is a
private businessman who lives in Maryland and who has maintained close
business ties with the U.S. intelligence community for many years.

7. In connection with my work for Wackenhut, I engaged in some software
development and modification work in 1983 and 1984 on the proprietary PROMIS
computer software product. The copy of PROMIS on which I worked came from the
U.S. Department of Justice. Earl W. Brian made it available to me through
Wackenhut after acquiring it from Peter Videnieks, who was then a Department
of Justice contracting official with responsibility for the PROMIS software.
I performed the modifications to PROMIS in Indio, California; Silver Spring,
Maryland; and Miami, Florida.

8. [U]The purpose of the PROMIS software modifications that I made in 1983
and 1984 was to support a plan for the implementation of PROMIS in law
enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. [/U]Earl W. Brian was
spearheading the plan for this worldwide use of the PROMIS computer software.

9. Some of the modifications that I made were specifically designed to
facilitate the implementation of PROMIS within two agencies of the Government
of Canada: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security
and Intelligence Service (CSIS). Earl W. Brian would check with me from time
to time to make certain that the work would be completed in time to satisfy
the schedule for the RCMP and CSIS implementations of PROMIS.

10. The proprietary versions of PROMIS, as modified by me, was, in fact,
implemented in both the RCMP and the CSIS in Canada. It was my understanding
that Earl W. Brian had sold this version of PROMIS to the Government of Canada.

11. In February 1991, I had a telephone conversation with Peter
Videnieks, then still employed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Videnieks
attempted during this telephone conversation to persuade me not to cooperate
with an independent investigation of the government's piracy of INSLAW's
proprietary PROMIS software being conducted by the Committee on the Judiciary
of the U.S. House of Representatives.

12. Videnieks stated that I would be rewarded for a decision not to
cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee investigation. Videnieks
forecasted an immediate and favorable resolution of a protracted child custody
dispute being prosecuted against my wife by her former husband, if I were to
decide not to cooperate with the House Judiciary Committee investigation.

13. Videnieks also outlined specific punishments that I could expect to
receive from the U.S. Department of Justice if I cooperate with the House
Judiciary Committee's investigation.

14. One punishment that Videnieks outlined was the future inclusion of
me and my father in a criminal prosecution of certain business associates of
mine in Orange County, California, in connection with the operation of a
savings and loan institution in Orange County. By way of underscoring his
power to influence such decisions at the U.S. Department of Justice, Videnieks
informed me of the indictment of these business associates prior to the time
when that indictment was unsealed and made public.

15. Another punishment that Videnieks threatened against me if I
cooperate with the House Judiciary Commitee [sic] is prosecution by the U.S.
Department of Justice for perjury. Videnieks warned me that credible
witnesses would come forward to contradict any damaging claims that I made in
testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, and that I would subsequently
be prosecuted for perjury by the U.S. Department of Justice for my testimony
before the House Judiciary Committee.

FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT.
[ Michael J. Riconosciuto ]

http://groups.google.fm/group/alt.activi...56d96b5?q=