Is the CFTC About to Be a “Commission of One?”

CFTC Vacancies Put US Financial Markets at Risk of Neglect

… As of June 1, the CFTC is down to two members—one Republican and one Democrat. For those who love gridlock, this will be great.

For the rest of us who (knowingly or not) benefit from the efficient operation of CFTC-regulated markets, it’s terrible. […]

It gets worse. Both sitting commissioners have announced their resignations. And one of them, Kristin Johnson, is already working overtime—her appointment expired months ago. It helps that the acting chair, Caroline Pham, has promised to stay on until nominee Brian Quintenz is confirmed. But Quintenz’s confirmation hearing hasn’t even been scheduled. If he does get confirmed, he’ll likely wind up serving alone.

A commission of one is hardly a commission at all. For the agency to complete even basic tasks, the chair would have to delegate commission-level authority to permanent agency staff. Those delegations are legally dubious, and they move important decisions one step further away from politically accountable actors—commissioners serve at the pleasure of the president.

Bernie Madoff customers to recoup $498 million, payout tops $15 billion

Former customers of the late Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff will recoup $498.3 million under a settlement on Wednesday with the liquidators of two Luxembourg funds, boosting their recovery to about $15.26 billion.

The Luxembourg Investment Fund and Luxembourg Investment Fund U.S. Equity Plus had invested exclusively with Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities for three years before Madoff’s firm collapsed in December 2008.

Irving Picard, the trustee liquidating Madoff’s firm, said the $498.3 million represents all transfers that the Luxembourg funds received from the firm.

Key Takeaways From the SEC Enforcement Forum West | Barnes & Thornburg

At the 2025 Securities Enforcement Forum West, senior SEC officials, enforcement counsel, private practitioners and industry experts gathered to share insights on the current direction of securities enforcement. A major focus of this year’s discussion: insider trading. Below are key takeaways from the insider trading panel’s discussion on where enforcement priorities are headed under the Atkins Commission. […]

3. Reemphasis on Traditional Insider Trading Claims

On the other hand, in its return to retail, “bread and butter” enforcement touted by SEC officials, and following up on the DOJ’s Galeotti Memo’s emphasis on foreign conduct affecting U.S. victims, we can expect a heightened focus on insider trading rings, especially those located overseas. For example, the SEC senior counsel presenter on the panel discussed a recently filed case in the District of Massachusetts, in coordination with the DOJ. In that case the SEC charged a German national and a Singaporean national for participating in an international insider trading ring that involved coded and disappearing messages, cash drops, and other traditional forms of deception and fraud to gain nearly $18 million in illegal profits. The SEC counsel also pointed to a traditional insider trading case involving a biotech executive’s trading in front of negative FDA news. These traditional types of insider trading cases likely will increase. In fact, the economist on the panel stated that thus far in the new year, after the January 22, 2025, inauguration, the SEC has filed twelve insider trading actions. If extrapolated to the full year, this will be the largest insider trading count in 12 years.

Everything is securities fraud: Google

If you are a US public company and you do a monopoly, you will get in trouble with the government. But also, because every bad thing that a public company does is also securities fraud, your shareholders will sue. “You were a monopoly,” they will say, “which injured us, so give us money.” A plausible answer is “no, we were a monopoly for you, our being a monopoly made more money for shareholders, we got in trouble specifically for making too much money,” but nothing works that way. The Information reports:

“Google has agreed to spend $500 million over 10 years and create new compliance committees to settle shareholder litigation accusing it of antitrust violations, according to court documents filed Friday.”

CLARITY Act faces turbulence as Trump’s crypto ventures draw scrutiny during House hearing

Prospects of passing a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry at large are hitting a recurring roadblock—President Donald Trump’s entanglement with the sector.

Some Democrats at a House Financial Services Committee hearing raised issues with Trump’s involvement in crypto.

“The president has put us in a position where his actions are so egregious that we have no other choice but to focus on him today, and it is a distraction,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said. “I wish I could be just talking about the bill responsibly so that we could try to make sure that we could push this thing forward.” […]

“Those of us who might be inclined to support this thing so that it can be bipartisan are not going to add our names to something that is associated with the rank corruption that we see out of the White House,” Himes said.