CFTC Reports Record Number of Enforcement Actions for FY 2020

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Enforcement has issued its annual report for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY 2020), revealing a historic result despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights from the Division of Enforcement Annual Report:

· The most enforcement actions filed in CFTC history (113)—an increase over the previous high (102) and significantly higher than the 30-year average (58).

· A total of $1,327,869,760 in monetary relief ordered—the fourth highest total in CFTC history, the third straight year-over-year increase, and the second straight year in excess of $1 billion.

· The largest monetary relief ordered in CFTC history ($920 million), which included the highest restitution ($311,737,008), disgorgement ($172,034,790) and civil monetary penalty ($436,431,811) amounts in a spoofing case.

· The most retail fraud actions (56) in a single fiscal year in CFTC history, including a record number of actions involving digital assets (7) and a total of 28 actions since the COVID-19 national emergency was declared on March 13, 2020.

· A total of 16 actions filed in parallel with federal criminal authorities, raising the three-year total of such actions to 46—nearly double the prior seven fiscal years (27).

· Filed a joint enforcement action with 30 state regulators—the most partners in a single case in CFTC history.

· Issued the first civil monetary penalty guidance since the Commission published its guidelines in 1994 and the first guidance regarding evaluation of compliance programs in connection with enforcement matters.

"When I first became Chairman, one of the strategic goals I set was to be tough on those who break the rules—and we have done just that," said CFTC Chairman and Chief Executive Heath P. Tarbert. "A strong enforcement program at the CFTC is critical to the proper functioning of our derivatives markets and the health of the American economy overall. Without integrity, these markets—markets that inform the price of everything from food to gasoline to interest rates on home mortgages—simply would not work."