The Commodity Futures Trading Commission received $412.7 million in penalties from 49 enforcement actions in the latest fiscal year ended June 30, well below the $1.29 billion received from 68 actions in the previous fiscal year.
In the most recent fiscal year, the CFTC obtained $333.8 million in penalties and $78.9 million in restitution and disgorgement, the agency said in a news release. More than $265 million was deposited at the U.S. Treasury as a result of the penalties assessed, the CFTC said.
Retail theft accounted for the largest number of enforcement actions in fiscal 2017, at 20. Twelve actions involved manipulation, false reporting and disruptive trading, while seven involved reporting and record-keeping violations.
The fiscal year did not see the large penalties that were assessed by the CFTC against banks in previous years for foreign-exchange manipulation.
The fiscal 2016 total included $425 million in penalties against Citibank for attempted manipulation and false reporting relating to two major interest-rate benchmarks. In fiscal 2015, when the CFTC had a record $3.14 billion in penalties assessed, more than $1.9 billion was the result of penalties against eight banks to address similar foreign-exchange manipulation.
CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo led the agency through the last five months of the last fiscal year, replacing Timothy Massad, who left the agency when President Donald Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.
