A former managing director of a bank agreed to pay $350,000 to settle CFTC charges for illegally "mismarking" swap valuations in an effort to hide significant trading losses. According to the CFTC Order, the former managing director mismarked the valuations of swap instruments in an attempt to cover up significant trading losses incurred by entering false "end-of-day" marks into an internal bank spreadsheet utilized for internal asset valuations. In connection with this action, the CFTC Division of Enforcement closed its investigation. The CFTC noted that its decision to terminate the

The National Futures Association ("NFA") listed the nominees for the open positions on the NFA Board of Directors. In addition, the NFA identified the nominee for the one open position on the NFA's 2019 Nominating Committee.

A broker-dealer agreed to pay $50,000 to settle FINRA charges that it failed to "establish, document, and maintain" a system of adequate risk management controls and supervisory procedures designed to manage financial and regulatory risks regarding market access. According to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, J.V.B. Financial Group, LLC (the "firm") neglected to have sufficient controls and supervisory procedures designed to prevent orders that went over preset capital thresholds. FINRA alleged that the firm lacked any automated pre-trade controls to stop the entry of orders that

The U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") designated three individuals and nine entities for their roles in supporting Russia's occupation of Crimea and control of Eastern Ukraine. The designations included two individuals and one entity, alleged to have committed serious human rights abuses, under the Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014, as amended by the Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act Section 228. In addition, OFAC imposed sanctions on eight entities and one individual, who are

A German-based bank agreed to pay $12 million to settle CFTC charges for failing to sufficiently supervise swap dealer ("SD") activities. According to the CFTC Order, Commerzbank AG ("Commerzbank") neglected to adequately address SD compliance issues after its management was informed of the CFTC's investigations of these activities. The CFTC claimed that Commerzbank filed inaccurate chief compliance officer reports with the CFTC. The alleged violations included failures to: institute policies designed to determine if swap transactions with certain non-U.S. swap counterparties were subject to