WASHINGTON D.C. – Anuj C. Singhal, a resident of Dallas, Texas, has been charged with spoofing in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) wheat futures market, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on April 9, 2018. Singhal, a registered floor broker, allegedly engaged in the illegal practice of spoofing – placing bids or offers with the intent to cancel them before execution – between March and June of 2016.
According to the CFTC’s order, Singhal repeatedly entered large limit orders on one side of the wheat futures market, sometimes entering multiple large orders in quick succession. He would then place a smaller, aggressive market order on the opposite side, which was typically filled immediately. After the smaller order was executed, Singhal would modify and ultimately cancel the larger orders, preventing them from ever being filled.
This isn’t Singhal’s first run-in with regulators regarding disruptive trading practices. In September 2014, CME Group Inc. fined him $60,000 for similar spoofing activity in agricultural futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). He also agreed to a three-month trading suspension on CME Group markets at that time. CME Group has announced further disciplinary action against Singhal in connection with this latest case.
The CFTC order mandates that Singhal cease and desist from spoofing. He is also subject to a four-month trading suspension across all registered entities, and must pay a $150,000 civil monetary penalty. Additionally, Singhal is banned from trading all commodity interests for a period of four months. The CFTC acknowledged the assistance of both CME Group and the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) France in this matter.
The case was pursued by the CFTC Division of Enforcement’s Spoofing Task Force, with W. Derek Shakabpa, Michael Cazakoff, Candice Aloisi, Lenel Hickson, Jr. and Manal M. Sultan leading the investigation.
Source: CFTC.gov
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