JONES DAY TALKS®: CFTC and DOJ Target Derivatives Trading Across Industries
FERC: A Discussion on its Mission, Market Manipulation Investigations, and Common Violations
The Seventh Circuit issued the third in a trilogy of opinions in October establishing the metes and bounds for criminal prosecutions of “spoofing”—a form of market manipulation, mostly in the commodities markets—that Congress...more
The Department of Justice secured a guilty plea from NatWest Markets, the newly-named Royal Bank of Scotland, for trade manipulation, referred to as “spoofing,” in U.S. Treasury markets. The NatWest resolution reflected new...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
In a year of increased volatility across the world’s financial markets, prosecutors, regulators and exchanges on both sides of the Atlantic sharpened their focus on “spoofing” – i.e., bidding or offering without the intent to...more
In the last five years, the Justice Department and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission have aggressively prosecuted “spoofing” cases. While the government’s record in these cases has been mixed, the government has...more
In 2019, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) experienced significant changes in leadership, including the appointment of Dr. Heath P. Tarbert as the Commission’s 14th Chairman. The Division of...more
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
The CFTC’s Division of Enforcement (Division) released its Annual Report on November 25, 2019, summarizing the Division’s activities over the past year.1 In FY 2019, the CFTC filed 69 enforcement actions, down from 83 in FY...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
The CFTC Division of Enforcement filed its Third Annual Report at the end of November 2019, reviewing the fiscal year. The Report is the typical mixture of goals, statistics, analysis and initiatives. Overall it offers...more
The U.S. and China have tentatively [maybe?] agreed that a first phase of a trade agreement “would roll back a portion of the tariffs placed on each other’s products, a significant step toward defusing tensions between the...more
U.S. regulators, in particular the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), are intently pursuing market manipulation enforcement. The September 30 end of the 2019 fiscal year brought with it a flurry of press releases...more
This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including DOJ guidance on the use of corporate monitors in criminal...more
Big tech (including Facebook, Google [theoretically], and Twitter) is heading back to the Hill (with @jack pulling double-duty, because that’s how he rolls). Here’s what to expect today based on their prepared testimony....more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), in January, announced a wave of coordinated spoofing cases that the Acting Assistant Attorney General, John P. Cronan, described as the...more
On October 10, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) filed and settled charges against Arab Global Commodities DMCC (“AGC”), a proprietary trading firm headquartered in Dubai. Specifically, the CFTC found...more
In remarks before the International Futures Industry Conference, Acting Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo—who was just nominated by President Trump to be permanent Chairman—talked about the future of the Commodity Futures...more
The last several years have seen law enforcement and regulatory bodies sharpen their focus on trading activity in the securities and derivatives markets. This focus has coincided with the advent of new and expanded reporting,...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) 2015 enforcement reports reveal one agency – the CFTC – imposing record fines, with the other – FERC – continuing its...more
Potentially abusive trading algorithms, such as algorithms that purportedly engage in “spoofing” or “layering” are the subject of considerable regulatory interest. However, in an interesting complaint filed on October 19,...more
The judgment in The Financial Conduct Authority v. Da Vinci Invest Limited [2015] EWHC 2401 (Ch) was published on 12 August 2015, following a trial in front of Mr Justice Snowden. The case concerned allegations that the...more
Asset managers should consider the practical implications of these recent developments. Signaling a new area of criminal and civil securities enforcement, federal regulators are flexing their newly acquired powers under...more