July 25, 2013

Federal Court in Illinois Orders Michael Peskin to Pay More Than $480,000 and Imposes Other Sanctions to Settle Charges that Peskin Violated A Permanent Trading Ban

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that Judge John F. Grady of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a Consent Order permanently enjoining Michael Peskin from trading in violation of a CFTC trading ban. The Order was entered on July 24, 2013 and arises out of an enforcement action filed against Peskin in CFTC v. Michael Peskin, No. 13 cv 5211 (N. D. Illinois July 22, 2013), a case stemming from charges that Peskin had violated a permanent trading ban. The Court also ordered Peskin to pay disgorgement of $239,339.78 and a civil monetary penalty of $250,000.

The Commission imposed a trading ban against Peskin in 1993 as a sanction after finding that Peskin had fraudulently allocated trades to benefit himself at the expense of his customers in an administrative proceeding entitled In the Matter of Peskin, CFTC Docket No. 89-1 [1992-1994 Transfer Binder] Comm. Fut. L. Rep. (CCH) ¶ 25,660 (CFTC Feb. 9, 1993).

The CFTC complaint alleges that Peskin violated a permanent trading ban entered against him in 1993 by trading for himself through the individual trading accounts of others from at least February 2006 through December 2012. The complaint also alleged that Peskin profited by $239,339.78 by trading in violation of the ban.

The Order finds that, beginning in at least February 2006, Peskin arranged with other persons to assume the identity of these other persons in order to trade for himself, both telephonically and electronically, through the accounts of those other persons.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this case are Susan Padove, Judy McCorkle, Elizabeth M. Streit, Scott Williamson, Rosemary Hollinger, and Richard Wagner.

Last Updated: July 25, 2013