On July 27, 2022, FINRA filed a proposed rule change with the SEC to make it easier for brokers to work from home. The proposed rule will add a category termed a “Residential Supervisory Location” under FINRA Rule 3110...more
8/16/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinTech ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Funds ,
Mergers ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
UK
A proprietary trading firm was sanctioned by a sixth futures-industry regulator for purported spoofing trades by one of three employees many years ago. For the employees’ aggregate alleged misconduct, the firm was first...more
3/3/2020
/ Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Sanctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing
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 non-US-based investment and brokerage firm agreed to settle spoofing allegations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by payment of a US $700,000 fine. In accepting this settlement, the CFTC emphasized the...more
1/22/2020
/ Annual Reports ,
CFTC ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Cooperation ,
Cryptoassets ,
Dubai ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Statistics ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Market Manipulation ,
National Futures Association ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Self-Reporting ,
Spoofing ,
Virtual Currency
Two weeks ago, a federal court of appeals sided with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ruling that a district court could not require the testimony of three commissioners and various staff to assess whether the agency...more
11/5/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Civil Contempt Orders ,
Consent Order ,
Contempt ,
Criminal Contempt ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Gag Orders ,
Kraft ,
Market Manipulation ,
Price Manipulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing
A broker-dealer and its chief executive officer settled charges brought in 2017 by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the firm facilitated manipulative conduct by a customer, despite being alerted by regulators and...more
10/15/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
ETFs ,
Ether ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Gag Orders ,
IRS ,
Misappropriation ,
National Futures Association ,
Price Manipulation ,
Respondeat Superior ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wash Sale Rules
Last week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission publicized a cascade of settlements of enforcement actions alleging breaches of laws and rules related to supervision, spoofing, reporting, and misappropriation of...more
10/8/2019
/ Blockchain ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Chief Compliance Officers ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Misleading Statements ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Swap Dealers
The Department of Justice raised the stakes in spoofing enforcement actions by including racketeering charges in an indictment filed last week alleging spoofing by three traders over many years. The Commodity Futures Trading...more
9/24/2019
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Code of Conduct ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Indictments ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Price Manipulation ,
Racketeering ,
RICO ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Volcker Rule
An interdealer broker agreed to pay a fine of US $13 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to resolve charges that it failed to supervise brokers on a swaps desk that allegedly made numerous false or misleading...more
9/16/2019
/ Amended Rules ,
Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Pool ,
Consolidated Audit Trail ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Statements ,
Investigations ,
Misleading Statements ,
National Futures Association ,
NYSE ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Swaps
A clearing organization for futures and securities was sanctioned US $20 million in aggregate by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly not having and following...more
9/10/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
National Futures Association ,
NYDFS ,
OCC ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Summary Judgment
Both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange brought and settled charges against a CFTC-registered floor broker, claiming he engaged in spoofing trading activity on the CME. The two...more
8/6/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cybersecurity ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Guidance ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Insider Trading ,
Safe Harbors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
UK
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority proposed to ban the marketing and sale in or from the UK to retail persons of derivatives and exchange-traded notes based on cryptocurrencies and utility digital tokens,...more
7/9/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Hong Kong ,
Margin Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Token Sales ,
Utility Tokens ,
Virtual Currency
A trading firm agreed to settle charges brought both by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Chicago Board of Trade that trading activities it engaged in during pre-opening market periods constituted wash sales....more
7/2/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Self-Regulatory Organizations ,
Settlement ,
Spoofing ,
Swap Dealers ,
Whistleblowers
New York regulators continued an aggressive approach against certain entities engaged in virtual currency businesses when the state's Attorney General’s office obtained an ex parte order precluding companies associated with a...more
4/30/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
BitLicense ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptoassets ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Instruments ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
LabCFTC ,
NYDFS ,
NYSE ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wire Fraud
Not the spoofer, but the person alleged to have developed the computer program used by the spoofer to conduct his illicit futures transactions goes on trial this week in a criminal action brought by the Department of Justice....more
4/2/2019
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Financial Services ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Whistleblowers
Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission resumed full operations last week. Promptly, the CFTC and the Chicago Board of Trade resolved coordinated enforcement actions against an...more
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 Securities and Exchange Commission’s view that most cryptoassets issued as part of initial coin offerings and presales to ICOs are securities was challenged by a federal court in California when it denied the agency’s...more
12/4/2018
/ Bitcoin ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptoassets ,
Disruptive Trading Practices ,
FinTech ,
Iran ,
LabCFTC ,
Mexico ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Ransomware ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Singapore ,
Spoofing
An international bank settled an enforcement action brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for spoofing. However, in the process, the CFTC went out of its way to laud the bank for self-reporting the incident, as...more
10/15/2018
/ Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Cooperation ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Self-Reporting ,
Spoofing ,
UK
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed and settled three enforcement actions for spoofing. Some of the CFTC's cases paralleled prior or concurrent exchange-resolved disciplinary actions for the same offense. One CFTC...more
A trader who was summarily banned in August 2016 from all CME Group exchanges for 60 days on an emergency basis agreed to pay a fine and be banned for an additional 45 days to resolve disciplinary charges that he purportedly...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued guidance to registered trading facilities and clearinghouses related to the listing of new derivatives contracts based on virtual currencies that contained a cryptic warning,...more
J. Christopher Giancarlo, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, proposed reforms to enhance swaps trading and reporting, the central clearing of swaps, swaps dealers’ capital, and persons subject to mandatory...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