The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an order filing and settling accusations against Nasdaq Futures , imposing a USD 22 million fine for Core Principle violations. As per the information detailed in the official press release, the CFTC’s order mentions that Nasdaq Futures did not appropriately establish, monitor, and enforce rules regarding an incentive program the firm provided to traders on its designated contract market (DCM).

In addition, the regulator found that the firm did not fully disclose this incentive program’s details to the CFTC or the public consistent with the requirements of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the Commission Regulations. At the same time, the order found that Nasdaq Futures made misleading statements to the CFTC concerning the incentive program. This led to the CFTC imposing a USD 22 million civil monetary penalty on Nasdaq Futures, with officials mentioning that the company’s conduct in this case represented substantial violations of both its duty to offer this information and several statutory Core Principles applicable to CFTC-designated exchanges.

Nasdaq Futures’ case background Operating as a market for energy commodity futures contracts from July 2015 to 2018, Nasdaq Futures provided several incentive programs to certain traders on its contract market, including its Designated Market Maker (DMM) program. As released to both the CFTC and the public, the DMM program paid a fixed monthly stipend to market makers, though, the company also conducted payments to a select number of participants that were based on the volume of contracts they traded. Despite being required by the CEA and associated regulations, this volume-based component was not revealed to the CFTC, with the company omitting or explicitly denying the existence of this incentive as part of the DMM program. Moreover, Nasdaq Futures’ exclusion regarding the volume-based component of the DMM program to the CFTC, the public, its compliance staff, and regulatory service provider led to breaches in numerous DCM Core Principles required in the CEA.  Additionally, the company did not follow its regulatory service provider’s recommendations to contact three DMM program participants about their trading activity nor documented its reason for not doing so, which violated CFTC regulations.

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