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Departing from its historical practice but following the approach taken by the SEC and FINRA, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Feb. 12, 2019, announced its first release of examination priorities for each of its regulatory divisions. In making the announcement, CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo indicated the release is part of CFTC’s “initiative…

The CFTC has asserted that Bitcoin is, and other virtual currencies may be, commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act.   As such, pursuant to Section 2(c)(2)(D) of such Act, “off exchange” financed retail transactions in virtual currency are prohibited unless an exception applies.   One exception found in Section 2(c)(2)(D)(ii)(III)(aa) provides, in relevant part, that such a…

The rise of blockchain technology ventures raising money preternaturally through initial coin offerings and token generation events (collectively, ICOs) is a capital formation disruptor, one which has and will continue to spawn considerable futures, fortunes, failures — and frauds. Blockchain-based ICOs have, through 121 offerings closed during January-August 2017, raised over $1.78 billion, with an…

Shareholders Carl A. Fornaris and William B. Mack of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP will be participating at the Financial Markets Association’s 2017 Treasury and Capital Markets Legal and Legislative Issues Conference, Oct. 25 – Oct. 26. Mack is also a member of the conference’s 2017 Program Planning Committee.

Fornaris will be moderating, “Recent…

On Sept. 25, 2017, the Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement and the Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance at New York University School of Law hosted a policy speech by James McDonald, Director of the Division of Enforcement, United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Mr. McDonald presented the CFTC’s new self-reporting and cooperation

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Yesterday, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) announced the issuance of a time-limited no-action letter stating that, from March 1, 2017 to September 1, 2017, DSIO will not recommend an enforcement action against a swap dealer (SD) for failure to comply with the variation margin requirements…

We have previously provided updates1 on the Navinder Singh Sarao case, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  After being charged in February 2015 with fraud and spoofing related to the 2010 Flash Crash, Sarao, then resident in the United Kingdom, fought a yearlong, multiple-appeal battle against extradition, before…

Sarao, Coscia, and now the Berkshire Power Company, each charged with crimes – spoofing, fraud, false information – relating to commodity trading. Commodity traders likely have incorporated into their compliance regimes the general risk that allegations of criminal fraud could arise. These criminal matters no longer appear to be isolated instances and, instead, counsel for…

On Nov. 24, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously proposed a set of sweeping rules that would govern individuals and entities engaged in automated trading on U.S. designated contract markets (DCM). One of the more notable components of these rules, collectively known as Regulation Automated Trading (Reg AT), governs the maintenance of …

Both the SEC and the CFTC were authorized by the Dodd-Frank Act to reward certain persons for providing information that leads to an enforcement action.  Prompted by such a “whistleblower’s” notification, the CFTC investigated and initiated a widely-reported civil enforcement action against a trader.  Under the CFTC’s implementation of the whistleblower program, for information that leads to monetary sanctions in excess of $1 million, whistleblowers can be paid between 10% and 30% of the sanction.
Continue Reading CFTC Picking Up the Pace of Whistleblower Program