October 1, 2019

CFTC Orders The Northern Trust Company to Pay $1,000,000 For Swap Reporting Violations

Washington, DC — On Monday, September 30, 2019, the CFTC filed and settled charges against The Northern Trust Company, a provisionally registered swap dealer, for numerous violations of the CEA and CFTC regulations relating to swap reporting under Parts 23, 43 and 45 of the CFTC regulations.  The order requires Northern Trust to pay a $1,000,000 civil monetary penalty, among other sanctions.

According to the order, over a period from 2013 through at least 2018, Northern Trust failed to correctly report hundreds of thousands of swap transactions to a swap data repository as required by the CEA and CFTC regulations.  These swap reporting violations resulted from Northern Trust’s failure to adequately supervise its swap dealer.  Contributing to the failure to supervise was that Northern Trust repeatedly hired compliance personnel for the swap dealer who lacked the specific technical expertise necessary to ensure swap dealer compliance.

The order recognizes Northern Trust’s substantial cooperation during the Division of Enforcement’s investigation, and remediation in the form of a substantially reduced civil monetary penalty.

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this action are Jason T. Wright, Patricia Gomersall, Luke B. Marsh, and Paul G. Hayeck. 

-CFTC-