CFTC orders Goldman Sachs to pay $7 million penalty

Goldman Sachs will pay a $5.5 million civil monetary penalty and a $1.5 million in disgorgement to settle CFTC charges that it failed to diligently supervise accounts from May 2007 to December 2009. The CFTC ordered Goldman Sachs to cease violations of CFTC regulations requiring diligent supervision, and to...

CFTC sues MBF for not segregating funds

The CFTC sued the MBF Clearing Corp., accusing them of violating the Commodity Exchange Act by failing to properly segregate customer accounts. MBF buys and sells commodities futures contracts. From September 2008 to March 2010, MBF employees deposited $30 million to $60 million in customer funds into a US...

CFTC announces process to establish compliant identifiers

The CFTC is requesting submissions from industry participants who wish to be considered as the source for identifications of swap counter parties and swap data reporting. Under the CFTC’s final swap data recordkeeping and reporting rules, and an identifier must be used in recordkeeping and reporting...

CFTC Commissioner says high-frequency traders should register

CFTC Commissioner Chilton is calling for the creation of a registration category for high-frequency trading firms that buy or sell rapidly, in order to help U.S. regulators determine whether new rules should be imposed on them as a group. In an interview during the TradeTech conference in New York, Chilton...

CFTC fines JP Morgan $140,000

With a $140,000 penalty, the CFTC settled charges against futures commission merchant J.P. Morgan for executing a fictitious sale. According to the order, the financial giant confirmed the execution of a prearranged trade of ten year U.S. Treasure Note Futures spreads, with the same customer on both sides of...

CFTC Commissioner Chilton to stir up oil speculation

Commissioner Bart Chilton is expected to make an announcement in favor of curbing oil speculation on Wall Street, according to the New York Post. New data reveals that oil speculation costs the airline and trucking industries $39 billion a year. Chilton will reveal the data in a speech before traders at the...

CFTC watchdog finds no misconduct in commodity position limits

The CFTC’s investigation into accusations that the leader of the group writing position limits rule was removing senior employees from the team and pushing an unworkable rule found the employee committed no wrongdoing, the inspector general said. The complaints underscored the conflict that has...

CFTC to increase threshold for swap dealers

The CFTC may raise the swap dealer threshold to $3 billion, up from the $100 million threshold introduced in 2010. The increase would relieve agriculture and energy traders from swaps dealers’ increased capital requirements and hedging costs. During 2008′s market crash, credit default swaps were...

Futures players speak at CFTC open meeting

In an open meeting, the CFTC invited regulators, exchanges, brokers, money managers, dealers, and academics to discuss ways and means to ensure customer collateral protection in the wake of the MF Global collapse. The Commission and participants discussed proposed regulations, including keeping more client...

Convicted felon ran two fraudulent CTA schemes

Alexander Giap of Annandale, Virginia, is a convicted felon. Over a decade ago, in 1995, he pled guilty to bid rigging, wire fraud, and bank fraud in three separate criminal real estate schemes. The CFTC has now charged Giap with operating two schemes that amounted to nearly $800,000 in funds for the...