CFTC Blasted in Court for ‘Bad Faith’ Misconduct in Fraud Case

A federal judge in New Jersey is weighing an unusual recommendation to sanction the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, based on a report that the derivatives watchdog made such significant missteps in a 2023 fraud case that the agency should dismiss it and pay legal fees.

“The CFTC’s conduct, which was undertaken over the course of a year and involved numerous instances of sanctionable behavior, was willful and undertaken in bad faith,” the special master in the case, Jose Linares, wrote in a report unsealed Tuesday. He was tasked with overseeing the CFTC’s handling of a case against Traders ...