2013 CFTC Enforcement Year-in-Review, And A Look Forward

In recent years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC" or "Commission") has brought cases of ever-greater significance, against respondents with greater name recognition, for consistently increasing civil monetary penalties. We expect these trends to continue despite budget or other resource constraints the Commission may face in 2014. The Commission will also seek to flex its new enforcement authority under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 ("Dodd-Frank" or "the Act").¹ That being said, we do not expect the Commission to lessen its traditional focus on enforcement actions concerning market integrity. To the contrary, the Commission recently appointed a Division of Enforcement alumnus as Director of the Division of Market Oversight, suggesting that the Commission remains committed to aggressive market integrity oversight. Finally, as it completes Dodd-Frank implementation, the Commission will likely focus greater attention