Settlements With Three Major Banks and Five Individual Enforcement Actions Follow CFTC Anti-Spoofing Initiative

The CFTC’s Spoofing Task Force has been aggressive in combating spoofing – placing orders that a trader has no intention of filling in order to move the price of a futures contract in a desired direction – as well as other forms of market manipulation. It recently announced eight separate actions involving spoofing and other manipulation. The CFTC entered into settlement orders with three major banks: Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.; UBS AG; and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. The regulator also commenced five civil enforcement actions against individual traders and a software developer. This article examines the details and terms of the bank settlements, as well as the complaints filed by the CFTC against the individuals. For more on spoofing, see “Two Recent Settlements Demonstrate CFTC’s Continued Focus on Spoofing” (Oct. 12, 2017); “Decision by U.S. Court of Appeals Sets Precedent for Emboldened Stance Toward Spoofing” (Sep. 7, 2017); and “WilmerHale Attorneys Detail 2016 CFTC Enforcement Actions and Potential Priorities Under Trump Administration” (Feb. 16, 2017).

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