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CFTC v. Trader and His Firm (matched orders, 2020)

Judgment entered

Machine-extracted, pending human review. The structured fields on this page were parsed automatically from the regulator's own release, linked below. Read the primary document before relying on any figure here, and tell us if something is wrong.

In 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission obtained a judgment against Trader and His Firm, alleging conduct this library classifies as matched orders and wash trading. The release records a civil penalty of $150,000.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency CFTC
Release number 8161-20
Date filed 2020-05-07
Date resolved 2020-05-07
Status judgment
Asset class commodities, futures
Venue CME
Criminal parallel No
Defendants Trader (individual) ; His Firm (individual)
Techniques Matched orders , Wash trading

What was ordered

Civil penalty
$150k
Disgorgement
Prejudgment interest
Total relief
$150k
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 7, 2020 as release 8161-20. The respondents named are Trader and His Firm (2 individuals, 0 entities).

This library tags the matter as matched orders and wash trading, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

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

The relief recorded in our data is a civil monetary penalty of $150,000. 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.

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 2 techniques 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. 2020-05-07 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
SEC v. William Scott Lawler, Esq. (matched orders, 2021) SEC 2021-08-18 Matched Orders , Wash Trading judgment
SEC v. Ahmad Haris Tajyar and Eric Leo Marsoubian (marking the close, 2021) SEC 2021-08-13 Marking The Close , Matched Orders +1 $220k settled
CFTC v. Connecticut Firm (matched orders, 2021) CFTC 2021-05-18 Matched Orders , Wash Trading $500k judgment
CFTC v. Coinbase Inc. (exchange wash trading, 2021) CFTC 2021-03-19 Exchange Wash Trading , Matched Orders +1 $6.5m judgment
CFTC v. unnamed respondents (matched orders, 2016) CFTC 2016-12-15 Matched Orders , Wash Trading $1.2m filed
CFTC v. MF Global Inc. (boiler rooms, 2014) CFTC 2014-11-07 Boiler Rooms , Matched Orders +1 settled

Record added September 9, 2026. submit a correction.