CFTC 2019 Enforcement Report — Lessons for Private Fund Managers

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Enforcement Division released its second annual report on Nov. 25, 2019, disclosing higher penalties and more parallel criminal cases. The number of actions brought in 2019 (69) was slightly lower than in 2018 (83), but it is noteworthy that a supermajority of this enforcement activity took place following Chairman Heath Tarbert’s assumption of office two-thirds of the way through the 2019 fiscal year. In this article, partners Craig Warkol, Harry Davis and former Schulte lawyers Brian Daly and Katherine Sullivan analyze the CFTC's 2019 Enforcement Report and discuss key takeaways for private fund managers.