Articles in this document:
·
CFTC
charges Dutch fund with oil price manipulation
·
Corn
Growers Ask Congress to Curb Rampant Speculation in
CFTC charges Dutch
fund with oil price manipulation
Reuters
Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:26pm EDT
By Timothy Gardner and Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON, July 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. commodity futures regulator on Thursday charged a Dutch trading fund and its Chicago unit with manipulating oil markets in March 2007, an action resulting from the commission's nationwide probe into illegal energy trading.
Three employees of the global fund Optiver Holding BV, including the company's CEO and head of trading, manipulated crude oil, gasoline and heating oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NMX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged.
The defendants made about $1 million through manipulative trading conducted over the exchange's Globex electronic trading platform, according to the complaint.
The agency has been under growing pressure to crack down on any market manipulation and excessive energy market speculation amid oil prices that hit a record of more than $147 per barrel this month.
Thursday's enforcement action came a day before the Senate was scheduled to have a major vote on legislation to rein in speculation and impose new regulations on traders that the CFTC would have to enforce.
The CFTC's acting enforcement director, Stephen Obie, denied that the announcement of the case was timed to influence the vote on the bill. "This was not a politically motivated case," he said.
"BANGING THE CLOSE"
According to the complaint, the employees carried out a manipulative scheme known as "banging" or "marking" the close of the trading day.
That refers to the practice of acquiring a substantial position leading up to the closing period, followed by offsetting the position before the end of trading for the purpose of attempting to manipulate prices.
Optiver's
The commission said the employees in three instances forced futures prices lower and in two instances caused prices to rise.
"Although this alleged energy trading scheme lasted only several days in March 2007, even short-term distortions of prices will not be tolerated by the commission," said CFTC Acting Chairman Walt Lukken.
The CFTC began its nationwide investigation into oil market manipulation last December.
Obie said the defendants face "substantial" fines if they are found guilty, but declined to say whether any criminal charges would be filed. The agency still has "dozens and dozens" of energy cases under investigation, he said.
When asked if more regulations are needed on the oil market, Obie said Thursday's case shows that the CFTC has broad powers to police the markets.
Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said the Senate bill would enhance the ability of the CFTC to oversee energy markets and prevent manipulation.
(Editing by Jim Marshall)
reuters.com
Corn Growers Ask
Congress to Curb Rampant Speculation in
ACGA Calls for Congressional Action before August Recess
Source: ACGA
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2008 (RuralWire)
– Today, American Corn Growers Association’s (ACGA) President Keith Bolin sent
a letter alerting Congress to the severe impact the energy crisis has had on
farm families and other rural Americans.
“Farmers, rural business and the agricultural sector are
struggling under record-high prices for fuel, transportation and shipping. Congress can and should advance swift reforms
that could help bring desperately-needed relief to the American people,” said
Keith Bolin. “Members of the House and
Senate should not leave
“No one is arguing against the supply and demand economics
of oil,” Bolin continued. “But today’s
wild swings in energy prices are not driven by traditional forces. Instead, they are, to a large degree, the
result of opportunistic speculators who buy commodities with one thought in
mind: to flip them for a significant profit.
Multiplied many hundreds and thousands of times, this practice has
driven the price of vital energy commodities higher and higher until it
ultimately impacts the lives of all Americans.”
ACGA recommends that Congress reinstate the normal functions
of a critical market, which includes five essential actions for reasonable and
sensible oversight:
1. Re-establish
strict position limits on energy commodities.
Traders who fail to take physical delivery of a commodity, or who do not
deliver a commodity they produce, would be subject to firm contract limits.
2. Close
the so-called “
3. Regulate
“swap trades.” All trades in the
over-the-counter, or swap market, must be subject to large-trader report
requirements and position limits.
4. Eliminate
the "Enron loophole." This is
critical so that exempt commercial markets are no longer free from regulations
that apply to commodity exchanges, such as the New York Mercantile Exchange
(NYMEX).
5. Enforce
transparency in all energy trading.
Traders’ positions in every market must be reported to the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) based on where the trades occur and who does
the trading.
“These five steps will go a long way toward eliminating
distortion and inflation in the energy markets and will supply critical
information needed to detect and prevent market manipulation. Many of these provisions are already
contained in the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008 (S. 3268), a bill
currently under consideration in the Senate,” said Bolin.
Since 1987, the American Corn Growers Association has been
acga.org