CFTC FY2022 enforcement results: Record penalties, digital asset crackdown

The agency, which regulates the U.S. derivatives market, made its presence most felt in May, when it announced a record penalty of approximately $866 million and disgorgement order of about $321 million against Glencore, one of the world’s largest commodity traders. Glencore was further fined by the Department of Justice and Brazilian authorities for alleged bribes paid in several countries over more than a decade. The CFTC alleged market manipulation and corruption in global oil markets as part of its role in the resolution.

Other standout figures from the year included the agency’s 18 actions involving conduct related to digital assets and its record-breaking award of nearly $200 million to an individual whistleblower reported to have tipped the CFTC regarding Deutsche Bank’s manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a case that resulted in the bank paying $2.5 billion in penalties in 2015.

The $2.5 billion in FY2022 sanctions is the largest amount the CFTC has ordered in a single fiscal year since surpassing $3.2 billion in back-to-back years from 2014-15. The agency’s highest total since then was nearly $1.33 billion in sanctions in FY2020.

The CFTC did not announce its enforcement results for FY2021, as agency leadership was in transition.

“In the face of unprecedented financial market conditions directly impacting American consumers, emerging technological disruption, and growing retail investor participation, the CFTC continues its unwavering commitment to a robust enforcement program ensuring the markets we oversee are open, transparent, fair, and competitive,” said CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam in a press release. “This FY2022 enforcement report shows the CFTC continues to aggressively police new digital commodity asset markets with all of its available tools.”

Also in FY2022, the CFTC worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission to levy more than $2 billion in total fines against 12 banks, investment firms, and their affiliates for failures in monitoring, maintaining, and preserving electronic communications by employees. The crackdown began with $200 million in penalties against JPMorgan Chase in December before the rest of the financial institutions were fined the remainder in an enforcement sweep announced in September. The CFTC imposed a total of $786 million in penalties across the cases.

The government fiscal year concluded Sept. 30.