What happens when a commission is without commissioners? That’s the question facing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the independent federal agency charged with the oversight of conventional derivatives (futures and options), and since Dodd-Frank the vast majority of the swaps market. Earlier this week, Sharon Bowen, a Commissioner since 2014 and whose term isn’t due to
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has adopted amendments to enhance its whistleblower rules, strengthening anti-retaliation protections and enhancing the process for reviewing whistleblower claims. The enhanced CFTC Whistleblower protections include: Under Rule 165.19, a person may not take any action to impede an individual from communicating directly with the CFTC’s staff about a possible violation of the
Sometimes called “queen for a day,” proffers are agreements between federal enforcement attorneys and individuals under investigation permit these individuals to tell the government about their knowledge of facts, with the supposed protections against them in any later proceedings. Attorney proffers are different, and are when attorneys talk to the government without your client present. It’s usually the step before
J. Christopher Giancarlo, a Republican Commissioner of the CFTC, and potentially the next leader of the Commission hasn’t hesitated to dissent from fellow commissioners. That is the sentiment of Kennyhertz Perry partner Braden Perry said in a recent National Law Journal article. Perry, a former CFTC Senior Trial Attorney stated, “He’s been more of a pro-industry commissioner as opposed to some of the other commissioners who have pursued with vigor the Dodd-Frank consumer-protection provisions.”
Dodd-Frank has created numerous rules and regulations within the CFTC in recent year and, Perry said, “[y]ou might see some of the rules and regulations that are under consideration or have been already approved be rolled back under Giancarlo’s leadership.”
Perry, as part of Kennyhertz Perry’s Commodities, Futures, and Derivatives practice group, advises clients on a wide range of commodities and derivatives regulatory matters, and works with companies on compliance with the complex laws and regulations governing the securities and derivatives industries.
To view the entire article, please visit NationalLawJournal.com.
Non-Registrants face many CFTC rules and regulations, and increasingly the obligation to file certain reporting forms, including Forms 204 and 304. Violations of these obligations have been highlighted recently in several CFTC enforcement actions, including CHS Inc., Marubeni America Corporation, and most recently Agrocorp International Pte Ltd. and Golden Agri International Pte Ltd.
Non-Registrant knowledge and understanding of the very technical and sometimes contradictory reporting minutia. If you have questions regarding CFTC Forms 204 and 304, Regulation 19.01, or any other CFTC rule or regulation, please contact Braden Perry with Kennyhertz Perry, LLC’s Commodities, Futures, and Derivatives, and Government Enforcement practice groups, where roots of the practice are in the commodities markets, where Mr. Perry spent time as a CFTC Senior Trial Attorney. Kennyhertz Perry lawyers regularly advise our clients on compliance with the complex laws and regulations governing the securities and derivatives industries, including the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, the Commodity Exchange Act, and CFTC regulations, and the rules of the derivatives exchanges and clearinghouses and other industry self-regulatory organizations. Kennyhertz Perry lawyers guide clients on comment-making about proposed legislation and regulation, provide ongoing operational and compliance counseling, and offer advice on modifications of transaction structure and documentation. Mr. Perry also brings his enforcement experience and his substantial prior experience in white collar criminal defense practice, and represents corporate clients and individual officers and directors at every stage of government investigations and enforcement actions – including white collar criminal matters – initiated by state and federal agencies, including the CFTC and NFA.
When a party is contacted by a federal, state, or local regulatory or law enforcement or government entity, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Medicare/Medicaid agencies such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Health
In another enforcement action involving failure to file CFTC from 2014 as required by CFTC Regulation 19.01, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Golden Agri International Pte Ltd. to pay $150,000. This follows similar actions against farm co-op CHS Inc. and Marubeni America Corporation and is a reminder to reportable market participants of their ongoing legal obligation to comply in a timely manner with Regulation 19.01, which prescribes the form and manner for submitting Form 204 reports to the Commission for wheat, corn, oats, soybeans, soybean oil, and soybean meal. Regulation 19.01(b) requires that the Form 204 report be made monthly by the close of business on the last Friday of the month, and filed with the Commission’s Office in Chicago, IL by the third business day following the date of the report or via facsimile, telephone, or mail.
Failure to file Form 204 reports in a timely manner and follow instructions constitutes a violation of Regulation 19.01, which is actionable under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and Commission regulations and these actions show that enforcement proceedings will brought against nonconforming companies.
If you have questions regarding CFTC Form 204, Regulation 19.01(b), or any other CFTC rule or regulation, please contact Braden Perry with Kennyhertz Perry, LLC’s Commodities, Futures, and Derivatives, and Government Enforcement practice groups, where roots of the practice are in the commodities markets, where Mr. Perry spent time as a CFTC Senior Trial Attorney. Kennyhertz Perry lawyers regularly advise our clients on compliance with the complex laws and regulations governing the securities and derivatives industries, including the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, the Commodity Exchange Act, and CFTC regulations, and the rules of the derivatives exchanges and clearinghouses and other industry self-regulatory organizations. Kennyhertz Perry lawyers guide clients on comment-making about proposed legislation and regulation, provide ongoing operational and compliance counseling, and offer advice on modifications of transaction structure and documentation. Mr. Perry also brings his enforcement experience and his substantial prior experience in white collar criminal defense practice, and represents corporate clients and individual officers and directors at every stage of government investigations and enforcement actions – including white collar criminal matters – initiated by state and federal agencies, including the CFTC and NFA.
Kraft Foods Group and Mondelez Global made headlines last year being charged with market manipulation by the CFTC. At the time, Braden Perry, a former CFTC Senior Trial Attorney and Kennyhertz Perry, LLC partner spoke with McGraw Hill about the meaning of this battle between a regulator and a large end user and participant in the commodities market.
Mr. Perry continues to talk about the CFTC’s new anti-manipulation standard, this time discussing cryptocurrency and the CFTC’s expansive jurisdiction, recently speaking to the Conference of Western Attorneys General (“CWAG”) involving the potential for actions involving manipulation or attempted manipulation on the Bitcoin spot market. CWAG invited Mr. Perry to their 2016 Digital Currency Symposium as a digital currency expert discussing regulatory and enforcement issues with digital currencies and the blockchain.
Kennyhertz Perry Partner Braden Perry was selected as a panelist for the January 22, 2016 Webcast: CFTC Proposed Rule for the Cross Board Application of the of the Margin Requirements. The panel will provide an overview and discussion of the latest changes to the CFTC’s rules and the compliance with the new requirements. To address the margin requirements
Braden Perry and McGraw Hill Financial Global Institute President John Kingston recently spoke about spoofing in the markets and the CFTC’s latest case against Chicago Trader Igor B. Oystacher and his proprietary trading company, 3Red Trading LLC, with spoofing and employment of a manipulative and deceptive device while trading E-Mini S&P 500, copper, crude oil, natural gas, and VIX futures Contracts. We also explored the latest CFTC trends and topics , including the CFTC’s expanding jurisdiction.
The McGraw Hill Financial Global Institute’s mission is to support the advancement of open and transparent capital and commodity markets, increased economic opportunity for individuals, communities and nations and to address other societal issues and trends contributing to global growth and prosperity.
To listen to the podcast, visit https://www.mhfi.com/mhfi-global-institute/institute-insight-podcasts/CFTC-Levels-a-Charge-of-Spoofing-What-Does-It-Mean-For-Trading.html
Law360 featured former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Senior Trial Attorney Braden Perry in a news article entitled, “CFTC Muscles Its Way To New Regulatory Turf.” Perry discussed the aggressiveness of the CFTC in attempting to expand its jurisdiction with products such as Bitcoin: “They claim that they are underfunded yet they are going after bitcoin, a new jurisdictional hurdle.”
A last ditch effort to save open outcry in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) futures pits is likely to fall short, Braden Perry, a former CFTC senior trial attorney and Partner with Kennyhertz Perry said in a Reuters article. The effort, launched by traders to delay the July 6 closing, claims the CME has failed to provide the CFTC adequate information on the rationale of the closing, and leaves certain trading strategies without proper alternatives. “It really comes down to the numbers of people who are trading still in the open-outcry system,” Perry said. The CME estimates that floor trading in Treasury futures represented 1.8 percent of total volume last year.
To read the entire article, please visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/25/cme-group-futures-closure-lawyers-idUSL1N0ZB2QJ20150625