2014 CFTC Enforcement Year-in-Review, and a Look Forward

• Paul Architzel, Elizabeth Mitchell, Matthew Beville
• 2.10.2015

In 2014, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) filed 67 new enforcement cases—fewer than any year since 2010—but obtained a record $3.27 billion in monetary sanctions, nearly double the previous record of $1.7 billion set in 2013. Roughly half of this amount was recovered in foreign-exchange (“FX”) manipulation settlements with five major banks. The Commission’s enforcement record in 2014 continues the recent trend of a decline in the overall number of enforcement cases filed annually, but with a greater focus on complex, high-profile cases and the imposition of significantly higher sanctions. In addition, as expected, the Commission began to flex its use of the new enforcement powers provided by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank”). Although the agency has undergone a change in leadership with the arrival of three new Commissioners and a new Director of the Division of Enforcement (“Division”), we expect these trends to continue through 2015. We also expect to see a greater focus on market structure and high-frequency trading issues, as part of the Commission’s core market integrity mission.

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