CFTC Unveils New Guidelines to Reward Cooperation and Self-Reporting in Enforcement Actions
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a new advisory that formalizes how it will evaluate cooperation and self-reporting when determining penalties in enforcement matters. According to InvestmentNews, acting Chairman Caroline Pham announced the move as part of a broader shift in the agency’s enforcement posture, aimed at incentivizing faster case resolution and more reasonable penalties.
InvestmentNews reports that the advisory introduces a tiered framework for assessing both self-reporting and cooperation. For self-reporting, the CFTC will categorize conduct into three levels: no self-report, satisfactory self-report, and exemplary self-report. To receive full credit, disclosures must be voluntary, timely, and complete. Firms or individuals may submit these disclosures to any relevant part of the CFTC, including the enforcement division.
Similarly, the agency will assess cooperation on a spectrum ranging from “uncooperative” to “exemplary,” allowing the CFTC to tailor sanctions accordingly. InvestmentNews reports that the directive also provides a clearer method for calculating credit granted in exchange for cooperation and voluntary disclosures.
Pham stated that this approach will enable the CFTC to “do more with less,” conserving resources and focusing on cases involving fraud, scams, and threats to market integrity. She emphasized the advisory’s role in aligning the agency with a Trump-era executive order that calls for rolling back what the administration considered excessive regulation.
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