The US derivatives regulator issued around $1.29 billion in penalties and restitution during its 2016 fiscal year, following high profile fines over Libor and record keeping failures.
For the year ending September 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued 68 enforcement actions, of which 30 were related to retail fraud, nine for reporting and record keeping failures, eight for illegal off-exchange contracts, and four over manipulation and false reporting.
According to a statement from the CFTC, it had collected over $748 million in civil monetary penalties and $543 million in restitution orders.
It high profile cases this year included the $425 million fine it issued to Citibank for attempted manipulation and false reporting of the Libor and ISDAfix benchmarks.
“The Division’s work over the past year demonstrates that those who would cheat or defraud investors in our markets, or undermine the integrity of the markets themselves, will face the determined efforts of the CFTC, as well as the criminal prosecutors who are our partners in this effort,” said Aitan Goelman, enforcement director, CFTC.
The CFTC has turned its attention back onto the dealings of the world’s largest swaps banks, and has recently launched an industry-wide investigation into the trading and clearing of interest rate swaps.