CFTC Charges Capital Market Services LLC with Violating Minimum Financial Requirement Rules

The CFTC issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges that Capital Market Services, LLC ("CMS"), a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant ("FCM") and former retail foreign exchange dealer ("RFED"), failed to comply with minimum financial requirements for FCMs and RFEDs.

According to the Order, CFTC rules state that an FCM must maintain adjusted net capital ("ANC") equal to or in excess of the greatest of $1,000,000 or various other measures, including the "amount of [ANC] required by a registered futures association of which it is a member." The Order stated that CMS did not maintain its required ANC during at least 17 separate months between March 2009 and October 2012, with month-end ANC computations showing that, at one point, CMS was undercapitalized by more than $13 million.

The Order recognized CMS's cooperation and the corrective action it undertook after its deficiencies were discovered, and required CMS to pay a $275,000 civil monetary penalty.

See: CFTC Order against CMS.