Monday, October 10, 2011
Gary Gensler, Chairman of the CFTC (photo: Max Hirschfeld)
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a little-known government watchdog of Wall Street, has been more than earning its keep.
Last fiscal year, the CFTC levied more than $290 million in fines and ordered firms to forfeit some $160 million in illegal earnings. Not bad for an agency with a budget of $130 million.
The CFTC filed 99 enforcement actions during the 2011 fiscal year, the highest number in its history and a 74% increase above the 2010 total.
The focus of the agency is usually hedge funds and other trading firms suspected of manipulating commodity prices and orchestrating various frauds, including Ponzi schemes.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Wall Street Watchdog Finds Its Teeth (by Ben Protess, Deal Book, New York Times)
Why is Congress Cutting the Budget of Agency that Saves Billions of Dollars? (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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