Release: 4635-02
For Release: April 29, 2002

CFTC LAUNCHES FOREX WARNING AD CAMPAIGN

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman James E. Newsome announced today that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is launching an advertising campaign in three Los Angeles foreign-language newspapers to raise consumer awareness of the perils of foreign currency trading. The advertisements are being published in the classified advertising sections of The Chinese Daily News, La Opinion, and the Korean Central Daily News.

In recent months the Chinese, Korean, and Spanish speaking communities in Los Angeles have been the targets of unregistered or fraudulently operated foreign currency trading businesses. The CFTC’s ads encourage readers who speak Spanish, Chinese, or Korean to telephone a “hot line” to report suspected fraudulent foreign currency trading activity. This is the first time the CFTC has used simultaneous publications in several foreign languages to alert the public to the risks of foreign currency futures trading.

Last February, the CFTC issued a nationwide Advisory on Foreign Currency Trading Fraud and posted the Advisory on its internet site at www.cftc.gov and distributed it to the media. The Advisory was followed by CFTC enforcement lawsuits in federal courts that immediately halted the operation of several illegal foreign currency operations. Some of the defendants in these actions used classified advertisements in foreign-language newspapers to offer employment and promise high income or profitable trading to attract investors (See CFTC News Releases 4551-01, August 14, 2001, and 4611-02, February 27, 2002).

The CFTC launched its pilot ad project in December 2001 in Los Angeles’ Chinese Daily News, and this latest ad campaign continues the CFTC’s effort to fight foreign currency fraud.

To report suspected fraudulent foreign currency activity, members of the public can telephone the following numbers in these languages:

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff are responsible for this initiative: Jack Barrett, Louis Traeger, and Myrna Morganstern.

Media Contact:
Jack Barrett
Regional Counsel, CFTC Division of Enforcement, Los Angeles
Tel: (310) 443-4700

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