Blunt, Ellis & Loewi, Inc., John Fromm and Peter Pfeffer v. Ronald P. Hlavinka and Jimmie G. Davison

CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge.

In December 1983, respondent Ronald Hlavinka initiated a reparations action before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Section 14 of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) (codified at 7 U.S.C. § 18) against petitioners Blunt, Ellis & Loewi, Inc. and its employees, John Fromm and Peter Pfeffer, complaining that he had lost $27,500 1 in trading silver futures contracts. Hlavinka claimed that this corporate registered futures commission merchant and its employees had given him false information in violation of the anti-fraud provision of the CEA (7 U.S.C. § 6b).…