May 9, 2011

Federal Court Orders Russian National Marat Yunusov to Pay $500,000 Civil Monetary Penalty for Illegal Commodity Futures Trading Scheme

Washington, DC - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on May 4, 2011, obtained a federal court consent order imposing a $500,000 civil monetary penalty on Marat Yunusov, a Russian national who traded on U.S. futures markets from overseas. The CFTC charged Yunusov with engaging in fictitious transactions and trading noncompetitively on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Globex electronic trading platform (see CFTC Press Release 5836-10, June 15, 2010). The order also permanently bans Yunusov from engaging in any commodity-related activity within the jurisdiction of the CFTC, including trading and registering with the CFTC in any capacity.

The order was entered by the Honorable Elaine E. Bucklo of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The order resolves the CFTC’s enforcement action, which alleged that during the evening of June 3 and the morning hours of June 4, 2010, while trading on the CME’s Globex electronic trading platform, Yunusov bought and sold thousands of futures contracts in lightly-traded contract-months of the Russian Ruble and E-micro British Pound futures contracts. Using separate accounts carried at two different registered futures commission merchants, Open E Cry LLC and Velocity Futures, LLC, Yunusov’s trading resulted in more than $7.8 million in losses to his Open E Cry account and an approximate $7.2 million profit to his Velocity account, after commissions and fees, according to the CFTC complaint.

The CFTC thanks the CME Group, Inc., the parent of the CME, for its assistance.

The CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are William Janulis, Mary Kaminski, Theodore Z. Polley III, Jeremy Christianson, Scott Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger and Richard Wagner.

Media Contact
Dennis Holden
202-418-5088

Last Updated: May 9, 2011