CFTC marks 2020 as record year for penalties issued
A major US regulator has issued a record number of enforcement actions in 2020.
Heath Tarbet, CFTC chairman
The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) handed out a total of $1.32 billion in penalties this year. The regulator says the total is its fourth-highest on record, and third year-on-year increase.
Other 2020 milestones for the CFTC include the largest spoofing penalties ever assessed, and the most retail fraud actions brought in a fiscal year.
This year also saw a record seven actions involving digital assets. The CFTC took 28 actions after the announcement of the US’s COVID-19 national emergency.
The bulk of the $1.32 billion figure comes from a September $920 million enforcement against JP Morgan.
Watchdogs charged JP Morgan with market manipulation across futures contracts and precious metal trading. The penalty broke records as the largest monetary relief ordered in CFTC history.
“A strong enforcement program at the CFTC is critical to the proper functioning of our derivatives markets and the health of the American economy overall,” says CFTC chairman, Heath Tarbet.
“Without integrity, these markets — markets that inform the price of everything from food to gasoline to interest rates on home mortgages — simply would not work.”
Tarbet adds that he is “immensely proud” of the “hard work” conducted by the division of enforcement within the CFTC.
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