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
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CFTC
Coscia Gets 3 Years in Prison: The Criminalization of Trading Commodities?
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…
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CFTC Issues Sweeping Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Automated Trading
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. …
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CFTC Picking Up the Pace of Whistleblower Program
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.
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Cybersecurity Viewed as Market Risk by CFTC
In a recent public speech, CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad described cybersecurity as “perhaps the single most important new risk to market integrity and financial stability.” On March 18, 2015, CFTC staff conducted a roundtable regarding this topic, during which CFTC suggested possible proposed rulemaking. CFTC staff said that CFTC is considering a rule imposing cybersecurity requirements on exchanges and clearing organizations, but one that at least initially would not apply to other market participants. Chairman Massad indicated that a proposed rule would focus on setting standards for testing: (a) system safeguards; (b) vulnerability and penetration; (c) key controls; and (d) business recovery and disaster recovery. …
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