CFTC Operating And Enforcement Divisions Issue Advisory On Referrals To Enforcement Division

On April 17, 2025, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ("CFTC") operating divisions ("Divisions") provided guidance in an advisory on the criteria they will use when determining whether to refer self-reported violations, supervision issues, and non-compliance issues to the CFTC's Division of Enforcement ("Enforcement").

This latest advisory expands on Enforcement's recent advisory establishing the factors Enforcement will consider when recommending penalties to the Commission and how Enforcement will evaluate those factors (see Jones Day's prior Alert, New CFTC Cooperation, Self-Reporting, and Remediation Enforcement Advisory Introduces Major Changes. That advisory permitted self-reporting to the Division primarily responsible for the relevant regulation(s), which would then decide, using unknown criteria, whether to refer the conduct to Enforcement. Enforcement previously required self-reporting directly to it to receive mitigation credit.