Federal Court Enters Consent Order with Individual Charged with Attempted Manipulation of Palladium and Platinum Futures Contracts

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a Consent Order ("Order") resolving CFTC charges that an individual attempted to manipulate the settlement prices of palladium and platinum futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange ("NYMEX").

According to the Order, from June 2006 to May 2008, a broker received market-on-close orders to buy palladium and platinum futures contracts from a customer with instructions to exert upward pressure prices. The Order stated that the broker waited to enter the portfolio manager's buy orders for the palladium and platinum futures contracts until the last five or ten seconds of the closing periods with the intent to manipulate the prices of those futures contracts, including the settlement prices.

The Order assessed a civil monetary penalty and enjoins the individual from violating the anti-manipulation provisions of the CEA, as charged in the CFTC Complaint from March 2012. The Order also permanently banned the individual from trading CFTC-regulated palladium and platinum products.

See: Consent Order; CFTC Press Release.