CFTC commissioner says Cantor Fitzgerald unit’s $1.9M fine too lenient

A new commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) believes the agency let a swap execution facility (SEF) affiliate of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald off easy when it was fined $1.9 million.

Christy Goldsmith Romero, a former federal law enforcement official who joined the CFTC in March, criticized the agency’s action against BGC Derivative Markets, which was penalized Friday for failing to report nearly 12,500 swap transactions to the regulator and/or the public from 2017-22.

In a statement, Goldsmith Romero said she concurred with the settlement, rather than offering her full support, because she disagreed the fine and the fact BGC did not admit guilt was “sufficient to deter future violations or provide accountability and transparency.”