CFTC Charges Chicago Trading Firm $2.5m for Spoofing and Manipulative Trading

Published On October 11, 2019
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11 October 2019: The US Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed and settled an enforcement action against a Chicago-based trading firm, Hard Eight Futures LLC, and its co-founder, Igor Chernomzav.

CFTC ordered that the firm pay $1.75m after it was found to have engaged in spoofing and other manipulative and deceptive trading methods. Chernomzav was ordered to pay $750,000 and is barred from trading in any CFTC-regulated market for a nine month period. 

CFTC investigations found that Chernomzav placed bids and offers for E-mini future contracts on Globex, with the intent to cancel those orders before execution. It was determined that he had placed these orders to create a false impression of buying or selling interest, which he subsequently used to induce other market participants to transact for his own financial gain. Chernomzav was found to have engaged in more than 1,000 such actions in the period between March 2014 and March 2015.

Commenting on the enforcement action, CFTC Director of Enforcement, James McDonald said, “this case is about maintaining fair markets. Market integrity in today’s electronically traded markets starts with making sure bids and offers represent real buying and selling interest, not fake order flow intended to manipulate other market participants.”