FINRA and BATS Exchange, Inc. announced that they have jointly ordered Citigroup Global Markets Inc. to pay approximately $1.1 million in connection with short selling ahead of participating in five public offerings of securities in violation of Regulation M Rule 105 ("Short Selling in Connection with a Public Offering") and supervisory requirements related to Rule 105. According to the FINRA news release, from May 2009 to September 2010, Citigroup purchased a total of more than 1.5 million shares after having sold short 313,890 shares of the securities within the five business days leading up

Over the past two days, Canada has joined with the United States and the European Union in imposing economic sanctions and travel bans against Russian and Ukrainian officials, as well as one entity – the Russian Unity Party – in response to the March 16 independence referendum in Crimea, which has since resulted in the Russian Federation's annexation of the peninsula. For a complete list of sanctioned individuals and entities by Canada, see the links below. James Treanor and Keith Gerver, associates in Cadwalader's Washington Office, continue to monitor the U.S. response to the Ukrainian

The CFTC issued an Order filing and settling charges against Sean R. Stropp for making false and misleading material statements and omitting material facts to CFTC staff during a CFTC Division of Enforcement ("DOE") investigation. According to the Order, Stropp provided DOE staff with a signed and notarized financial disclosure statement in connection with the CFTC's investigation into potentially unlawful sales of off-exchange leveraged metals contracts by Stropp and his company, Barclay Metals, Inc. ("Barclay"); however, Stropp falsely represented that the statement included all his known

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued a no-action letter providing relief for a university ("University") from failing to register as a CPO under CEA Section 4m(1) ("Use of Mails or Other Means or Instrumentalities of Interstate Commerce by Commodity Trading Advisors and Commodity Pool Operators; Relation to Other Law"). In the letter, the CFTC stated that it will not recommend enforcement action against the University or any of its employees if the University offered, as part of its curriculum, a course that would allow University students to trade

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued a letter providing time-limited no-action relief to a CPO of a commodity pool from CFTC Rule 4.22 ("Reporting to Pool Participants"), which requires that the CPO distribute to its participants, and file with the National Futures Association ("NFA"), an Annual Report within 90 days of the close of the Pool's fiscal year. Instead, the CPO will file a certified Annual Report for the Pool for the 13-month period from December 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014. See: CFTC Letter 14-30.