NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BGC Financial, L.P. ("BGC"), an entity of BGC Partners, Inc. (BGCP:NASDAQ), is pleased to announce that claims in excess of $16 million brought by Tullett Prebon Financial Services LLC and Tullett Prebon Americas Corp. ("Tullett") against BGC have been denied in their entirety in a FINRA arbitration.

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Tullett's claims were brought against BGC and nine brokers who resigned from Tullett and joined BGC in 2011.  In addition to losing all claims for damages against BGC, Tullett was ordered to pay a total of approximately $380,000 owed to the nine brokers who joined BGC.

Tullett claimed that BGC "raided" Tullett's U.S. repo desk, that the desk head breached his contract with Tullett, and that the other brokers breached duties to Tullett.   Tullett also accused BGC of unfair competition, misappropriating confidential information, and violating the FINRA Rules of Conduct.  In Tullett's Statement of Claim, it demanded compensatory damages from BGC, punitive damages, a permanent injunction barring BGC from recruiting or hiring any Tullett employees in the future, and a referral to the SEC.  Tullett also sought to recover compensation that it had paid to the desk head, as well as compensation that BGC paid to hire the nine repo brokers. 

All Tullett's claims were denied in full, affirming that BGC's recruitment and employment of the repo brokers was lawful and appropriate.   

The arbitration is one of a number of lawsuits filed by Tullett, all making similar allegations, claiming that BGC improperly recruited or "raided" employees from Tullett in the U.S. in the 2009-2011 time period.  This is the first of the matters to be adjudicated.   

About BGC Partners, Inc.
BGC Partners is a leading global brokerage company primarily servicing the wholesale financial and real estate markets.  Products include fixed income securities, interest rate swaps, foreign exchange, equities, equity derivatives, credit derivatives, commercial real estate, commodities, futures, and structured products. BGC also provides a wide range of services, including trade execution, broker-dealer services, clearing, processing, information, and other back-office services to a broad range of financial and non-financial institutions.  Through its eSpeed, BGC Trader, and BGC Market Data brands, BGC offers financial technology solutions, market data, and analytics related to select financial instruments and markets.  Through the Newmark Grubb Knight Frank brand, the Company offers a wide range of services including leasing and corporate advisory, investment sales and financial services, consulting, project and development management, and property and facilities management. BGC's customers include many of the world's largest banks, broker-dealers, investment banks, trading firms, hedge funds, governments, corporations, property owners, real estate developers, and investment firms. For more information, please visit www.bgcpartners.com. 

eSpeed, BGC, BGC Trader, Grubb & Ellis, Grubb and Newmark are trademarks and service marks of BGC Partners, Inc. and its affiliates.  Knight Frank is a service mark of Knight Frank Limited Corp., used with permission.

Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements by BGC Partners
Statements in this press release regarding BGC Partners' business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see BGC Partners' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors set forth in our public filings, including our most recent Form 10-K and any updates to such risk factors contained in subsequent Form 10-Q or Form 8-K filings.

SOURCE BGC Financial, L.P.