CHICAGO, IL – September 9, 2025 – Commodity trader Brett Falloon has been charged with spoofing in the E-mini S&P 500 and E-mini Nasdaq 100 futures markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today.
Falloon, trading on behalf of Flatiron Futures Traders LLC, allegedly engaged in the manipulative practice of spoofing between May and December 2022 while trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. According to the CFTC, Falloon placed bids and offers with the intention of cancelling them before they could be executed, a tactic designed to mislead other market participants.
The CFTC’s order details a pattern where Falloon would place legitimate orders intended for execution alongside spoof orders designed to be cancelled. Once his genuine orders were filled, the spoof orders were promptly withdrawn. Investigators found that Falloon’s spoof orders frequently comprised a significant portion of all orders at prevailing price levels, often outnumbering legitimate orders by a ratio of five to one.
The agency alleges that this conduct was intended to induce other traders to react to the false signals created by the spoof orders, either by crossing the bid-ask spread to fill Falloon’s genuine orders or by placing resting orders that facilitated faster and more favorable execution of his trades.
As a result of the charges, Falloon and Flatiron Futures Traders LLC will jointly pay a $200,000 civil monetary penalty. Additionally, Falloon has been banned from trading commodity interests for a period of 12 months. Both parties were ordered to cease and desist from further violations of the spoofing prohibition outlined in the Commodity Exchange Act.
The CFTC acknowledged the assistance of CME Group Inc. in the investigation. The case was led by Michelle Bougas, Patrick Marquardt, Brian Hunt, Kathleen Banar, and Paul Hayeck of the Division of Enforcement, with contributions from former staff members Erica Bodin and Deputy Director Rick Glaser.
Source: CFTC.gov
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