FCA commodity futures traders offered a commitments package after the regulator raised competition concerns over 11 individual day traders in global commodity futures markets.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it had provisionally found the traders may have limited competition by sharing sensitive trading information, coordinating their strategies, or both. However, the regulator said it has not reached a view on whether competition law was breached. The traders also made no admission.
If the FCA accepts the package, it would end investigation CA98/2023/01 without an infringement decision or a fine. Meanwhile, the consultation on the proposal will stay open until July 14.
FCA Commodity Futures Traders Under Review
The case focuses on day traders active in global commodity futures markets. The FCA said these traders supply liquidity and absorb risk from other market participants. Therefore, the regulator said independent decision-making is key to keeping those markets competitive.
The FCA named the 11 parties as James Biagioni, George Commins, Paul Commins, Aristos Demetriou, Henry Lunn, Elliott Pickering, Christopher Roase, Nicholas Stewart, Paul Sutton, Matthew Thompson and Connor Younger. Notably, the regulator said its concern is that they exchanged potentially sensitive trading information, coordinated their strategies, or did both.
Proposed Commitments and Consultation Timeline
Rather than fight the case, the traders offered commitments to change how they handle sensitive information. Additionally, they proposed taking annual competition law training. They also offered to make a 1 million pound ex gratia payment to the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which supports people in financial hardship.
The FCA said that payment would likely be higher than any penalty it could impose. This is because financial penalties on individuals are capped by reference to turnover in the year before an infringement decision. If the FCA accepts the commitments, it will close the case without deciding whether competition law was broken.
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