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CFTC v. Glencore International A.G., Glencore Ltd. and Chemoil Corporation (price manipulation, 2022)

Settled

Checked against the primary document on October 2, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In May 2022 the CFTC issued an order settling charges against Glencore International A.G., Glencore Ltd. and Chemoil Corporation for manipulating or attempting to manipulate four U.S. Platts fuel oil benchmarks on hundreds of days from 2007 to 2018, and for corruption-related fraud. The total of $1.186 billion consists of a $865.6 million penalty and $320.7 million in disgorgement.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency CFTC
Release number 8534-22
Date filed 2022-05-24
Date resolved 2022-05-24
Status settled
Criminal parallel Yes: charged (Glencore (two US Justice Department criminal actions and UK Serious Fraud Office charges)), 2022-05-24
Defendants Glencore International A.G. (entity) ; Glencore Ltd. (entity) ; Chemoil Corporation (entity)
Also named elsewhere Glencore Ltd. is named in 1 other matter
Techniques Price manipulation

What was ordered

Civil penalty
$866m
Disgorgement
$321m
Prejudgment interest
—
Total relief
$1.2bn
Alleged gain
—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on May 24, 2022 as release 8534-22. The respondents named are Glencore International A.G., Glencore Ltd. and Chemoil Corporation (0 individuals, 3 entities).

The order finds Glencore traders acted with specific intent to move Platts price assessments to benefit trading positions in physical fuel oil and related futures and swaps. A parallel criminal matter is referenced. This library tags the matter as price manipulation.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil monetary penalty of $865,630,784, disgorgement of $320,715,066. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

The release references a parallel criminal proceeding. Where a criminal case exists, the civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

Timeline

  1. 2022-05-24 CFTC release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
CFTC v. George Santos (price manipulation, 2026) CFTC 2026-07-31 Price Manipulation $17.5k settled
Victorian man sentenced in market manipulation case (ASIC, 2025) ASIC 2025-12-12 Price Manipulation , Wash Trading — judgment
ASIC v. Delta Power & Energy (Vales Point) Pty Ltd (price manipulation, 2025) ASIC 2025-06-30 Price Manipulation , Marking The Close — filed
Victorian man charged over alleged market manipulation (ASIC, 2025) ASIC 2025-03-14 Price Manipulation , Wash Trading — judgment
SEC v. Marco Babini, et al. (price manipulation, 2024) SEC 2024-09-27 Price Manipulation — judgment
CFTC v. TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA (price manipulation, 2024) CFTC 2024-08-27 Price Manipulation $48m settled

Record added September 20, 2026. submit a correction.