Advisors

Constellation Energy has hired Morgan Stanley and UBS to advise it on “strategic alternatives” and said Wednesday “the company and its advisors are in active discussions with potential strategic partners.” Meanwhile, Constellation shares posted a second day of steep declines, and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned of a “multiple-notch” downgrade if the company’s credit position isn’t bolstered.

Citing lack of jurisdiction, a federal district court judge in Washington, DC, has rejected a request of a former trader with Amaranth Advisors LLC for a declaratory judgment stating that FERC’s assertion of authority in the natural gas futures markets violates a number of federal laws.

A federal court in Washington, DC Thursday denied the requests of failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC and a former trader to stay FERC’s enforcement actions against them for alleged manipulation of natural gas markets.

Buttressed by support from a coalition of futures market associations, including the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), Amaranth Advisors LLC on Wednesday again asked a New York district court to stay a FERC enforcement action against it until a parallel case by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is completed.

FERC Friday asked a federal court in New York to deny Amaranth Advisors LLC’s request to enjoin and stay the agency’s enforcement action against the fallen hedge fund for alleged manipulation of natural gas markets.

FERC Friday asked a federal court in New York to deny Amaranth Advisors LLC’s request to enjoin and stay the agency’s enforcement action against the fallen hedge fund for alleged manipulation of natural gas markets.

John Special, a self-described gas futures trader claiming to have been damaged by Amaranth Advisors LLC’s alleged manipulation of natural gas prices, has filed a class action lawsuit against the failed hedge fund and several others, including former Amaranth trader Brian Hunter.

Amaranth Advisors LLC has requested an additional month to respond to a FERC show-cause order that accuses the failed hedge fund of manipulating the price of physical natural gas transactions, while former Amaranth trader Brian Hunter continues to challenge the regulatory agency’s jurisdiction in the case.

FERC’s well publicized enforcement actions against failed hedge fund Amaranth Advisors LLC and transporter Energy Transfer Partners in late July should put the rest of the energy industry on notice that the agency is ready and able to take action against bad actors in the industry, said Chairman Joseph Kelliher last Tuesday.