Trafigura pays $55mn US fine in case alleging market abuse
- Editor
- Jun 17, 2024
- 1 min read
Summary: Trafigura agreed to pay a $55 million fine to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over charges of market abuse between 2014 and 2020. The charges include trading gasoline while in possession of non-public information from a Mexican source, manipulating a fuel oil benchmark, and impeding whistleblower communications through restrictive NDAs. This is the first time the CFTC has fined a company for obstructing potential whistleblowers. Trafigura neither admitted nor denied the allegations but said it has since improved its compliance programs. The penalty adds to the $127 million fine Trafigura paid in a separate U.S. bribery case involving Petrobras. Despite ongoing scrutiny, the firm posted $1.5 billion in profits in the first half of 2024, underscoring its continued dominance in global commodity markets.
Source: FT
