The CFTC has recently provided its fiscal year statistics, and there's one takeaway: activity is up. For fiscal year 2011,

• the CFTC filed 99 enforcement actions, which represents a 74% increase from its prior fiscal year.
• Of these 99 enforcement actions, 55 represented fraud cases against 75 defendants.
• In addition, the CFTC filed 23 enforcement actions against foreign exchange dealers under new authorities conveyed to the CFTC through Dodd-Frank that require foreign exchange dealers and introducing brokers to register with the CFTC.
• The CFTC's enforcement actions also resulted in 70 criminal indictments and convictions.

The enforcement actions focused on a number of different areas. The CFTC, like the SEC in recent years, dealt with Ponzi schemes. The CFTC also addressed cases involving commodity price manipulation, supervision failures, deficiencies with registration and accounting failures. The CFTC has generated significant monetary sanctions against violators, as well as large restitution awards. For the fiscal year 2011, the CFTC has recovered $290mn  in civil monetary sanctions, as well as approximately $160mn in restitution. In one case involving fraud, the CFTC obtained a court-ordered initial distribution and return of nearly $800mn to investors in a commodity pool. In an action against an accounting firm, the CFTC obtained fines of approximately $1mn arising from the firm and individual accountants' failure to use generally accepted auditing standards over a futures commission merchant that was ultimately charged with fraud. Finally, the CFTC reported that it opened over 450 investigations, which also represents a one-year record for the agency. What does this mean? It's likely not a one-year anomaly, especially given the added power and responsibilities bestowed upon the CFTC by Dodd-Frank. Because the agency simply has more on its table, regulated entities and individuals should expect more enforcement actions and investigations. That means firms need to be more proactive and comprehensive in their own compliance and oversight efforts. It is critical to have compliance policies and procedures that are as current as possible and enforced without hesitation. It seems that the CFTC will continue looking harder and wider for violations. If that's truly the case, firms need to as well. [Reuters, 10/25/11]