Recent Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement actions rely on the anti-manipulation provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) to punish misstatements made to...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) voted to adopt new rules on position limits (Final Rules) in an open meeting on October 15. Once effective, the Final Rules will implement one of the remaining key provisions of...more
On October 15, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission adopted new rules on position limits. The new rules mark an important step forward in a decade-long journey to enact one of the remaining key provisions of Title VII of...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed to revise its position limits regime by increasing to 25 (from nine) the number of commodity derivatives contracts subject to federal limits; by augmenting the number of...more
2/4/2020
/ California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Capital Raising ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Cybersecurity ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
OCIE ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Will the fourth time be the charm? This week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will try for the fourth time since 2011 to revise its speculative position limits rules. Details have not been made public, but Heath...more
1/28/2020
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Blockchain ,
Bona Fide Hedging ,
CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) ,
CFTC ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Position Limits ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Swaps
A federal appellate court in California issued a decision effectively ratifying the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s expansive view of its authority to bring enforcement actions addressing a diverse range of purported...more
7/30/2019
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Howey ,
Interstate Commerce ,
IRS ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission brought separate enforcement actions against the portfolio manager of a hedge fund for mismarking valuations of interest rate swaps in order...more
7/23/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinCEN ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Interest Rate Swaps ,
Investment Adviser ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
TRACE
The US Department of Justice vehemently opposed the request for a new trial by the first person charged, convicted and sentenced under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s prohibition against...more
2/26/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Hong Kong ,
Howey ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
ISDA ,
Professional Disciplinary Actions ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an enforcement action against nine defendants related to its 2017 discovery that its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system used for receiving...more
1/23/2019
/ Canada ,
CPOs ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EDGAR ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Hackers ,
Indictments ,
Insider Trading ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Enforcement issued its annual report last week; it said the purpose of its enforcement program was to engender a “true culture of compliance.” The Division suggested the...more
11/20/2018
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission obtained orders from a federal court in New York concluding its first-filed enforcement action against persons for bitcoin fraud. However, the outcome of an unrelated action having...more
10/22/2018
/ Algorithmic Trading ,
Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Fines ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Internal Controls ,
Regulation AT ,
Restitution ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Last week, the Bank for International Settlements strongly criticized cryptocurrencies, claiming that trust in digital tokens could disappear at any time because of the “fragility of the decentralized consensus through which...more
6/25/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFTC ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Lucia v SEC ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
California Federal Court Tosses CFTC Enforcement Action Against Precious Metals Dealer, Rejecting Commission View of “Actual Delivery” and “Manipulative or Deceptive Device”
The California federal court judge who, at the...more
Last week, a broker-dealer was fined US $1.575 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and other self-regulatory organizations for not complying with market access requirements for gatekeepers, while the...more
4/16/2018
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Fines ,
Fraud ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Investment Adviser ,
OCIE ,
Record Retention ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing
The United States Supreme Court made clear that, to take advantage of a key anti-retaliation protection of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, an employee whistleblower must identify potential...more
UK-Based Subsidiary of US Bank Fined UK £34.5 Million for Not Reporting Certain Derivatives Transactions As Required: UK-based Merrill Lynch International consented to the imposition of a fine of £34.5 million (the equivalent...more
11/1/2017
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Disruptive Trading Practices ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Foreign Exchanges ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities Fraud ,
Wash Trades
Trader’s Spoofing Conviction and Sentence Upheld by Federal Appeals Court: Last week, a three-judge Federal Court of Appeals panel in Chicago unanimously upheld Michael Coscia’s criminal conviction and sentencing for...more
Yesterday, Michael Coscia’s criminal conviction and sentencing for spoofing was unanimously upheld by a three-judge Federal Court of Appeals panel in Chicago, Illinois....more
New SEC Chairman Previews Governing Principles; Stresses Commitment to Working With CFTC: Last week, Jay Clayton, newly appointed Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, enumerated eight “guiding principles” that...more
Although 2017 has barely begun, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued to aggressively pursue enforcement actions against companies for whistleblower-related violations. As part of its initiative, the SEC...more
SEC/CORPORATE SEC Releases Registration Fee Estimator
On April 18, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the release of an online tool that will assist companies in calculating registration fees relating to...more
4/25/2016
/ Business Conduct Standards ,
Canada ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EDGAR ,
EU ,
High Frequency Trading ,
Major Swap Participants ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
NCUA ,
Pensions ,
SFTR ,
UK
CFTC Again Extends Deadlines for New OCR Compliance; Puts Pressure on FCM Clients Who Will Not Provide Adequate Information Regarding Trading Control -
Late last week, staff of the Division of Market Oversight of the...more
4/12/2016
/ Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
CFTC ,
Deadlines ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
FSOC ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
G20 ,
Leverage Ratio ,
MetLife ,
No-Action Relief ,
OCR ,
Oil & Gas ,
Reporting Requirements ,
SIFIs ,
Spoofing ,
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
GAO Claims US Financial Services Regulation Still Complex and Fragmented -
Last week, the US Government Accountability Office reported that US oversight of financial services entities and products has not meaningfully...more
4/5/2016
/ BSA/AML ,
Disruptive Trading Practices ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EFRP ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Fingerprints ,
Forum Selection ,
GAO ,
Price Manipulation ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Regulatory Reform
SEC-Sanctioned Trader Began Alleged Spoofing After Complaining About Spoofing by Others to NYSE -
Eric Oscher and Briargate Trading, LLC, a company 50 percent owned by Mr. Oscher, agreed to pay an aggregate fine of US...more
10/13/2015
/ Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
CFTC ,
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disruptive Trading Practices ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
High Frequency Trading ,
Hillary Clinton ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment Adviser ,
Material Nonpublic Information ,
Sanctions ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
US v Newman ,
Volcker Rule
FC Stone Companies and Goldman Sachs Receive Largest Fines in CME Group’s 27 Disciplinary Actions Cascade:
CME Group handed down sanctions in 27 separate disciplinary actions last week for alleged violations of rules...more
7/28/2015
/ Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) ,
AML/CFT ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Capital Requirements ,
CFTC ,
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Creditors ,
Dodd-Frank ,
DSIO ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Goldman Sachs ,
ISDA ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Sanctions