Seed CX, a Chicago-based, new swap execution facility (SEF) for trading hemp as a commodity, has just been selected by the FinTech Sandbox to join its community of innovators, an opportunity that follows shortly after the CFTC approved the SEF. The SeedCX SEF’s mission is to help agricultural market participants to hedge risk and to… Read More >>
Settlement Helps Steven A. Cohen Return in 2018
The ongoing saga of billionaire hedge fund manager, Steven A. Cohen, completed another episode with his settlement this week with the CFTC, which may help him create a path back to investing other peoples’ money by 2018 or beyond. The former hedge fund heavyweight Cohen settled with the SEC this past January after the regulator… Read More >>
CFTC Gives Compliance Officers More Time to File Annual Reports
Chief compliance officers at futures commission merchants (FCMs), swap dealers, and major swap participants may have more time to file annual reports because of amendments that the CFTC is proposing for a key regulation. CFTC officials announced on August 9 that it will be publishing in the Federal Register proposed amendments to CFTC regulation 3.3… Read More >>
BarCap to Pay $2M in CFTC, FINRA Fines
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the London-based banking multinational, has been hit with $2.1 million in fines for various reporting, clearing and trading violations, and for related supervision failures. Those penalties include an $800,000 fine from the CFTC and a $1.3 million fine from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA fined BarCap,… Read More >>
Binary-Options Firms Fined $4.58M, Banned from Trading
Two web-based binary-options firms, Vault Options, Ltd. and Global Trader 365, have been hit with a $3 million civil monetary penalty, plus $1,587,731 in restitution, and have been banned from future trading, for defrauding their customers and violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The two companies, both based in Israel, apparently are no longer doing business… Read More >>
CFTC Clarifies Wind-Downs, Recoveries for Key DCOs
The CFTC division of clearing and risk (DCR) has issued a guidance regarding recovery and wind-down plans for registered clearinghouses that are systemically important derivatives clearing organizations (SIDCOs). The recovery and wind-down plans are “critical element[s] of risk management and contingency planning,” the commission says, pointing out that SIDCOs are required by its regulations to… Read More >>
CFTC Blesses DTCC-SWIFT LEI Utility for Another Year
CFTC Hopes Global LEI System to Be More Operational in a Year The legal entity identifier (LEI) utility operated by the DTCC and SWIFT can continue for another year in the hope that the global LEI system will become fully operational in that time, according to the CFTC, which just issued an order extending the… Read More >>
CFTC Fines Barclays $650K for Wrong LTR Data
The CFTC has fined London, U.K.-based Barclays Bank PLC $650,000 for “failing to submit accurate large trader reports (LTRs) for physical commodity swap positions,” a violation of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Barclays has been provisionally registered with the CFTC as a swap dealer since December 12, 2012, and the commission requires dealers… Read More >>
Elizabeth Warren, Others Push for Derivatives Overhaul
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and two other Democrats in Washington, D.C. are proposing sweeping legislation governing derivatives that includes authorization for the CFTC to collect user fees from financial services firms to cover its budget in a way similar to fees collected by the SEC. Industry observers, however, counter that if those fees are… Read More >>
Time for a CFTC User’s Fee?
Would it really be such a bad idea for the CFTC to charge a user’s fee? That issue may wind up being a spinoff from a bill put forth late last month by the Wall Street lightning rod U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with the support of Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)…. Read More >>
