CFTC v. The Bank of Nova Scotia (spoofing, 2020)

Judgment entered

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 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.

Report an error in this record (cftc-the-bank-of-nova-scotia-spoofing-2020-8221-20) by email

In August 2020 the CFTC issued two orders settling charges against The Bank of Nova Scotia over spoofing and false statements, totalling $77.4 million (a $42 million spoofing penalty, $11,828,912 disgorgement, $6,622,190 restitution and a $17 million false-statements penalty). These orders are part of the August 19, 2020 announcement recorded under release 8220-20, which carries the money figures. A parallel criminal matter is referenced in the release.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

—

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 CFTC announced these two orders on August 19, 2020 as release 8221-20. They resolve one of the two actions announced the same day against The Bank of Nova Scotia; the other, for swap dealer compliance and supervision failures, is covered in the 8220-20 announcement.

This library tags the matter as spoofing, based on the conduct the regulator describes. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The $77.4 million is part of the $127.4 million covered by the record built from release 8220-20. To avoid double-counting, this record carries no penalty or disgorgement figures and the amounts sit on that record.

The conduct is recorded against commodities and futures, with COMEX identified in the release. 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.

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.

• Spoofing — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2020-08-19 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.

• CFTC release
• CFTC order or complaint
• CFTC order or complaint

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.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

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

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.