May 19, 2014

Global Futures & Forex, Ltd. Ordered to Pay $200,000 Penalty to Settle CFTC Charges of Violating Minimum Financial Requirement Rules

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges that, between December 2010 and November 2012 (the Relevant Period), Global Futures & Forex, Ltd. (GFF), a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and former Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, failed to comply with minimum financial requirements for FCMs and RFEDs. The CFTC Order imposes a $200,000 civil monetary penalty and a cease and desist order against GFF for its violations.

Under CFTC Regulations in effect during the Relevant Period, an FCM was required to maintain adjusted net capital (ANC) equal to, or in excess of, the greatest of $1 million or various other measures, including the “amount of [ANC] required by a registered futures association of which it is a member.” The same Regulations also required that an RFED maintains ANC of $20 million plus five percent of its total retail forex obligation in excess of $10 million at all times. GFF’s ANC requirement as an RFED was approximately $24 million.

According to the Order, GFF did not maintain its required ANC during various separate months between December 2010 and November 2012, with month-end ANC computations showing that GFF was undercapitalized by as much as $30 million at one point.

GFF has been registered with the CFTC as an FCM since November 2000 and as an RFED from December 2010 to August 2013.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Andrew Ridenour, Daniel Jordan, and Richard Wagner. Lisa Marlow of the CFTC’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight also assisted in this matter.

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Last Updated: May 19, 2014