The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued six orders that simultaneously filed and settled material compliance-related violations against 10 firms, imposing a combined USD 8,325,000 in civil monetary penalties. The actions were brought under Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham’s enforcement sprint initiative, which offered eligible firms a pathway to resolve compliance investigations involving recordkeeping, reporting, and other non-fraud violations that did not involve customer harm or market abuse. UBS AG, UBS Financial Services Inc., and UBS Securities LLC were fined USD 5 million for failing to diligently supervise trade surveillance systems from at least 2015 to 2024, resulting in monitoring gaps across foreign exchange, metals, rates, and credit products and exchange-traded derivatives; UBS must also submit a remediation plan with progress reports. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. was penalized USD 1.5 million for inaccurate large trader reporting from at least 2015 to fall 2022 due to a programming logic error, recordkeeping failures for 10 weeks in 2023, and a 2022 supervision issue related to daily excess net capital reporting, with the penalty reduced by the maximum mitigation credit for exemplary self-reporting and cooperation. SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., Banco Santander, S.A. and Santander US Capital Markets LLC, and The Bank of New York Mellon and BNY Mellon Securities Corporation each paid USD 500,000 for recordkeeping and supervision violations tied to employees’ use of unapproved communication channels, with penalties reduced by maximum cooperation mitigation credit, and U.S. Bank, N.A. paid USD 325,000 for inaccurate swap valuation data reporting from at least 2022 to 2024 due to valuation methodology errors, also reduced by maximum mitigation credit. Each firm agreed to cease and desist from further violations and has completed or nearly completed remediation. Santander must conduct an internal audit of its electronic communications compliance program for U.S.-based associated persons and address any issues identified, and BNYM must implement the recommendations of an independent compliance consultant.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission 2025-09-04
Commodity Futures Trading Commission settles 10 firms under enforcement sprint with USD 8,325,000 in penalties for compliance violations
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued six orders settling compliance violations against 10 firms, imposing USD 8.325 million in penalties under Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham’s initiative. UBS AG was fined USD 5 million for trade surveillance failures, while Citigroup Global Markets Inc. was penalized USD 1.5 million for reporting inaccuracies, with reduced penalties for cooperation. Other firms, including SMBC Capital Markets, Banco Santander, and BNY Mellon, faced fines for recordkeeping and supervision violations, committing to remediation and compliance improvements.