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Fired Cantor Fitzgerald Trader Drops Lawsuit Over ‘Wash Trades’

Fired Cantor Fitzgerald Trader Drops Lawsuit Over ‘Wash Trades’

(Bloomberg) -- A former Cantor Fitzgerald LP trader dropped an employment lawsuit against the bank in which he’d claimed he was fired because he blew the whistle on so-called “wash trades.”

Ash Nadershahi, who worked as a high-yield trader at the firm’s European unit for a year, withdrew his claim Monday, a Cantor spokesman said in an email. No settlement or other agreement was struck with Nadershahi, he said.

Nadershahi was part way through a trial that started last week and had been scheduled to last for 13 days. In the lawsuit, Nadershahi said he was fired after bringing wrongdoing to the attention of co-workers. Public authorities and retail investors are among those “potentially misled and damaged” by so-called wash trades, he’d argued.

“This was a baseless claim that should never have been brought before an employment tribunal,” the Cantor spokesman said. Nadershahi’s allegations “are without merit and we are not surprised he has withdrawn his claim.”

Nadershahi declined to immediately comment.

Cantor’s lawyer, Adam Solomon, told the court Monday that the brokerage will apply for Nadershahi to cover its costs, which could potentially be as much as half a million pounds ($634,400), according to a court transcript provided by the bank. Costs will be discussed at a hearing scheduled for June 14, the transcript said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kaye Wiggins in London at kwiggins4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net

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