Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq., represents clients relating to violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and its regulations. As part of representing such clients, it may become necessary to provide information to the CFTC Enforcement Staff such as liaison between the staff and clients or to provide “declarations” to the staff in support of potential enforcement actions.

Congress created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 1974 as an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The agency’s mandate has been renewed and expanded several times since then, most recently by the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.

In 1974, the majority of futures trading took place in the agricultural sector. The CFTC’s history demonstrates, among other things, how the futures industry has become increasingly varied over time and today encompasses a vast array of highly complex financial futures contracts.

Today, the CFTC assures the economic utility of the futures markets by encouraging their competitiveness and efficiency, protecting market participants against fraud, manipulation, and abusive trading practices, and by ensuring the financial integrity of the clearing process. Through effective oversight, the CFTC enables the futures markets to serve the important function of providing a means for price discovery and offsetting price risk.

The CFTC’s mission is to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, abusive practices and systemic risk related to derivatives that are subject to the Commodity Exchange Act, and to foster open, competitive and financially sound markets.

The CFTC Division of Enforcement investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission regulations. The CFTC takes enforcement actions against individuals and firms registered with the commission, those who are engaged in commodity futures and option trading on designated domestic exchanges, and those who improperly market futures and options contracts. Many times, the Division of Enforcement works in concert with other state and federal agencies in conducting preliminary investigation of possible targets so that each agency’s resources are utilized efficiently.

Through May of 2011, the Division of Enforcement have instituted over 60 enforcement proceedings. The purpose of this section of our site is to review these decisions and provide information on those that we feel are noteworthy or would be of interest to the reader.

However, just because an enforcement action is instituted, it does not necessarily follow that you, as an aggrieved investor, can sit back and hope to recover all of your losses. In order to make this determination, it is necessary for you to contract experienced counsel to discuss your options.