Release: 5294-07

For Release: February 20, 2007

Man Financial Inc. Sanctioned for Failing to Supervise Former Employee Who Fraudulently Solicited Customers

CFTC Orders Man Financial to Pay a Civil Penalty and Restitution Totaling $316,000 and Imposes a Trading Ban and Penalty on Former Man Employee Steven M. Camp

Washington, D.C.— The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today the issuance of an order filing and simultaneously settling charges against Steven M. Camp of Chicago, Illinois, and Man Financial Inc. (Man), a registered futures commission merchant. The order charges Camp with fraudulently soliciting customers to open commodity futures and options on futures accounts at Man, and charges Man with failing to diligently supervise Camp. During the time of the misconduct, Camp was a registered Associated Person of Man.

Specifically, the CFTC order, entered on February 20, 2007, finds that, from September 2002 through March 2003, Camp solicited customers of a web-based members-only trading system called the Natural Trigger Point System (NTPS) to trade through Man. NTPS provided on-line signals for the purchase and sale of commodity futures and options on commodity futures. While Camp knew that the trading for his customers using NTPS signals was not profitable, Camp, nevertheless, misrepresented that the system was successful and that his customers who traded the system had made profits. Customers who funded accounts at Man to be traded pursuant to NTPS signals collectively lost a total of approximately $73,000. Meanwhile, supervisory employees at Man did not reasonably monitor Camp’s sales solicitations of accounts to be traded pursuant to letters of direction in favor of third-party system developers.

Separately, the order also finds that, during the period August 2004 through June 2005, Camp fraudulently solicited customers to open accounts at Man to be traded by a commodity trading advisor (CTA), who purportedly created a program for trading commodity futures and options on commodity futures. Camp defrauded at least six customers during that period by misrepresenting the profitability of the CTA’s purported trading program and failing to disclose that customers for whom he placed trades using the CTA’s recommendations sustained overall losses. Those six customers collectively sustained losses totaling approximately $165,000. At the time, due to deficiencies in Man’s supervisory system, Man did not detect that Camp was making material misrepresentations about the profitability of the CTA’s trading system and failing to disclose to prospective customers losses sustained by the CTA’s accounts.

Camp Ordered to Pay a $120,000 Penalty, Among Other Sanctions

The order requires that Camp pay a $120,000 civil monetary penalty. In addition, Camp is permanently prohibited from trading commodity futures, must never apply for registration with the CFTC or seek exemption from registration, and must never engage in any activity requiring such registration or exemption from registration.

Man Paying a Monetary Penalty & Restitution, with Other Sanctions

The order requires that Man pay a civil monetary penalty of $120,000 and pay restitution in the amount of $196,900.44 to customers. Also, Man is ordered to strengthen its supervisory system for overseeing sales solicitations by employees pursuant to letters of direction in favor of third-party providers.

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff were responsible for this case: Diane M. Romaniuk, Ava M. Gould, Thomas Koprowski, Scott R. Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, and Richard B. Wagner.

Media Contacts
Ianthe Zabel
202-418-5080

Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: August 5, 2007