WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued an order filing and settling charges against NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC dba NinjaTrader, Tradovate and TransAct Futures (NTC), a registered Futures Commission Merchant that operates out of Deer Park, Illinois.

The CFTC order finds NTC failed to have adequate policies and procedures governing the emergency handling of accounts and did not exercise sufficient oversight over its employees’ handling of accounts in response to a statutory restraining order issued in CFTC v. Patel, Case No. 22-cv-80092 (S.D. Fla. 2022). 

The CFTC order requires NTC to pay a $750,000 civil monetary penalty, cease and desist from further violations of CFTC regulations, and pay restitution in the amount of $233,425 to the court-appointed receiver for distribution to the victims of the fraud prosecuted in that action. 

Case Background

The CFTC order finds that from at least Dec. 31, 2020, to the present, NTC failed to diligently supervise its employees’ handling of accounts that needed to be frozen, disabled, or otherwise restricted on an emergency basis. 

Specifically, in January 2022, NTC failed to diligently supervise its employees’ handling of accounts NTC held or managed under the name Rajiv Patel. NTC did not have adequate policies and procedures and did not adequately oversee its employees to ensure NTC implemented the SRO entered by the court in connection with the fraud perpetrated by Patel and his company, Bluprint LLC.

As a result of these deficiencies, NTC failed to take diligent steps to understand and implement the SRO. These failures resulted in positions in the Patel accounts remaining open for several days after the SRO was served, during which time they lost more than $200,000 in value.

The Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this matter are Elsie Robinson, Monique McElwee, Jeff Le Riche, Christopher Reed, and Charles Marvine.