On June 24, 2019, the Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC) announced an award of approximately $2.5 million to a whistleblower who assisted in an enforcement action against Cargill Inc.
In November 2017, the CFTC ordered Cargill Inc., a global agricultural, commodity and financial services business headquartered in Minnesota, and its business, Cargill Risk Management, to pay a $10 million civil monetary penalty for violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. In its November 2017 order, CFTC stated, “[i]n particular, Cargill was reluctant to disclose its mark up on certain complex swaps because of a concern that such transparency might ultimately reduce its revenue. As a result of this concern, Cargill chose to provide a mark that was based on a termination or ‘unwind’ value that included a portion of Cargill’s estimated revenue during the first sixty calendar days of the swap, and also credited the counterparty with a portion of its estimated revenue if the counterparty terminated the swap during that same period.” The CFTC’s Order also highlighted Cargill’s failure to supervise its employees in relation to these fraudulent swaps. Continue reading