JONES DAY TALKS®: CFTC and DOJ Target Derivatives Trading Across Industries
INVESTMENT ADVISERS - Annual Compliance Reviews - All investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) or at the state level are required to review their compliance policies and...more
On December 5, 2024, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) staff (Staff) issued a staff advisory (Advisory) on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by market participants in CFTC-regulated markets.1 Staff...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has joined the list of federal agencies targeting employment nondisclosure agreements and other restrictive covenants that allegedly restrict employees from making reports to...more
On April 30, 2024 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) finalized amendments to its rules governing reporting requirements for large trader futures and options positions, the latest in a series...more
Last week, the CFTC updated its large trader position reporting rules for futures and options. First proposed in June 2023, this much-needed change modernizes a rule that had gone largely unchanged since the 1980s....more
On January 25, 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) published, first, Release No. 8854-24, a customer advisory cautioning the public to beware of artificial intelligence (“AI”) scams (the “AI Advisory”),...more
On December 14, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Freepoint Commodities LLC, a Connecticut-based commodities trader, had agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) to resolve a DOJ investigation...more
Earlier this week, Suzanne Cosgrove wrote about the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's decision to prohibit Congressional Control Contracts, which it described as "cash-settled, binary (yes/no) contracts based on the...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed joint amendments to Form PF, a confidential reporting form required of certain SEC-registered investment advisers...more
Once in a while, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) enforcement action confirms market participants’ worst fears that the CFTC is prepared to, and is able to, find violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”)...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a civil enforcement action in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas charging Cornelius Johannes Steynberg and Mirror Trading International...more
In an effort to pursue unlawful trading in the derivatives markets, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") have in recent years engaged in unprecedented levels of...more
On September 10, 2020, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued the latest in a series of circulars regarding corporate compliance released this summer by government agencies. In June, the Criminal Division of...more
Some virtual currency units and positions are treated as commodities by the CFTC and US courts. The IRS has told taxpayers that it views convertible virtual currency as property, not foreign currency, for federal tax...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") issues new civil monetary penalties guidance, and the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") expands fraud division with new commodities fraud unit. On May 20, 2020, the CFTC...more
In the wake of significant market discussion, the CFTC has proposed an amendment to Part 37 of the Commission’s regulations to eliminate the practice of “post-trade name give-up” for swaps traded on certain swap execution...more
At its open meeting held on January 30, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “the Commission”) approved a proposed rulemaking to institute federal position limits in an effort to prevent excessive...more
On September 16, 2019, the Department of Justice and the CFTC jointly announced the indictment of three precious metal traders for an alleged eight year conspiracy to manipulate gold, silver, platinum, and palladium futures...more
In remarks made at the Yahoo! All Markets Summit in New York, Heath Tarbert, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that he believed the Ether cryptocurrency was a “commodity” and should be...more
According to a recent report, the new chair of the CFTC, Heath Tarbert, has declared that he believes that ether is a commodity. He also anticipates ether futures trading on U.S. markets in the near future. The CFTC has...more
The Situation: Since the Supreme Court decided Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. ("Morrison") in 2010 and rejected the Second Circuit's "conduct and effects test," the Second Circuit has grappled with the issue of...more
Unexpectedly, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a new initiative to encourage non-registrants to self-report foreign corrupt practices, which it claimed might also constitute violations of laws and rules it...more
On March 6, 2019, the head of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (“CFTC’s”) Enforcement Division, James McDonald, announced a new policy related to the benefits of self-reporting foreign corrupt practices-related...more
Few price manipulation cases brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ever go to trial. The CFTC case filed against the trading firm DRW Investments LLC (and its CEO) was the exception to that rule and would...more
On November 5, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) held its first open meeting with five commissioners since May 2013. At that meeting, the Commission approved (by a 4-1 vote) proposed...more