In the 1980s and 1990s, I was a precious metals trader and ran one of the leading bullion banks with offices in London, the U.S., and Asia. In those days, electronic trading had not yet flourished. The markets changed, and a growing number of traders who did not change with the markets have been punished. From the 1980s through 2001, I worked with or traded with some of the traders now sitting in or heading to federal prison. The rules in the precious metals markets changed in 2010, but some of my former colleagues ignored the regulatory shift and are now paying the price.
