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Record-Setting Submissions: CFTC Whistleblower Program 2020 Annual Report Documents Increasing Popularity of Program

Posted  11/5/20
Commodity Futures Trading Commission seal on building
Every year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is required to report to Congress about the CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, created by the Dodd-Frank Act, which pays awards to eligible whistleblowers who voluntarily provide the Commission with original information, about matters within the CFTC’s jurisdiction, that leads to the recovery of more than $1 million in monetary sanctions.  This week, the CFTC...

JPMorgan Chase Pays nearly $1 Billion in Fines for Market Manipulation of Precious Metals and U.S. Treasuries

Posted  10/16/20
investors on computers for market trading
JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay over $955 million to settle civil and criminal charges over a scheme involving fake trades in precious metals and U.S. treasuries designed to manipulate the market in an effort to enhance the bank’s profits and cut losses. The multi-agency enforcement action was brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and...

CFTC Sets Sights on Binary Options Fraud

Posted  09/17/20
commodity futures trading commission logo
The CFTC continues its hot streak, aggressively pursuing fraudsters and rewarding whistleblowers who come forward with valuable information.  One particular enforcement trend stands out: a number of high-profile settlements related to illegal binary options trading platforms. Binary options are the OTB of the stock market—a method of gambling whether particular stocks will go up or down without actually...

Catch of the Week: Interactive Brokers Pays $38 Million for Failures in Money-Laundering and Supervision

Posted  08/14/20
Computer screen with graphs
Brokerage firm Interactive Brokers LLC will pay $38 million in penalties to settle charges from multiple U.S. market regulators regarding its anti-money laundering practices, including alleged failures to file suspicious activity reports (SARs).  The discount broker has paid an $11.5 million penalty to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the deficiencies in its internal controls that...

CFTC Whistleblower Hot Streak Continues with $9 Million Award

Posted  07/28/20
a silver whistle on top of a stack of cash
This week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced a new whistleblower award of approximately $9 million, one of the five largest awards ever paid by the agency. It is the latest in a wave of awards—four over the last three months, all over $1 million—demonstrating the CFTC’s strong commitment to its whistleblowers. These awards make good on CFTC Enforcement Director James McDonald’s...

Top Ten Whistleblower Developments of 2019

Posted  02/6/20
Slingshot and stones
By any measure, 2019 was a Very Big Year for whistleblowers.  Our annual Top Ten lists identified 2019’s most significant financial recoveries by whistleblowers, as well as recoveries in enforcement actions at the federal and state level involving government procurement, healthcare, financial, tax, and other types of fraud.  But the numbers, as impressive as they are, can’t tell the full story of the impact that...

Top Ten SEC and CFTC Recoveries of 2019

Posted  01/24/20
Silver Whistle Hanging
2019 was another busy year for the SEC and CFTC.  Once again, the SEC netted hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and fines from companies and individuals accused of defrauding investors, breaching fiduciary duties, and violating the securities laws.  And that’s in addition to the SEC’s robust FCPA enforcement in 2019.  Meanwhile, the CFTC continued to root out market manipulators and other fraudsters...

Top Ten Whistleblower Awards of 2019

Posted  01/9/20
Whistleblower in Text
2019 was another strong year for whistleblowers, who once again collectively recovered billions of dollars for the government and hundreds of millions of dollars in whistleblower rewards through their filing of lawsuits under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act.  Whistleblowers this past year also continued to secure financial rewards under the Dodd-Frank SEC Whistleblower and CFTC Whistleblower programs,...

CFTC Whistleblower Program Annual Report Shows Program Open for Business, yet Challenges Persist

Posted  11/15/19
Screenshot of CFTC Whistleblower Program web page
Fifteen million dollars is how much the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Whistleblower Program paid whistleblowers in FY 2019 according to the agency’s annual report to Congress.  This amount includes:
  • $7 million to one individual whistleblower;
  • Over $2 million to a non-insider whistleblower who provided independent analysis of market data; and,
  • Close to $1.5 million to a...