Senators Push CFTC to Probe Oil Trading Before Trump Iran News
(Bloomberg) -- Two Democratic US Senators pressed the federal derivatives regulator to investigate suspicious oil futures trading in the lead up to President Donald Trump making two major announcements about military operations in Iran.
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island on Friday called on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to open probes into trading surges on March 23 and April 7. It’s the latest lawmaker pressure on the regulator to probe the volatility in oil futures amid concerns about insider trading on the war.
“This pattern raises serious questions about whether there has been recurring misappropriation of material nonpublic government information and about the extent to which individuals inside or outside the government have acted on such information,” the senators wrote.
The CFTC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oil futures trading surged in the minutes before Trump announced on March 23 that he would postpone strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, Bloomberg reported. The president had earlier threatened to attack within 48 hours unless Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil tankers.
Futures trading also jumped in the hours before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on April 7, with traders betting that oil prices would fall, the senators said. Oil and gas prices plummeted on the deal news.
CFTC Enforcement Director David Miller in late March said the regulator was “watching” the oil futures market for unusual activity but said he couldn’t comment on what the agency may or may not be investigating.
New York Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from the Bronx, also pressed the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate “suspicious” trading when he reached out to the CFTC this week.
The White House sent an internal staff-wide email March 24 that warned employees against using confidential information to place trades on financial markets and fast-growing event betting platforms, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.
US crude oil futures have surged 46% since the start of the war in Iran, which has effectively choked off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
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