The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued an Order filing and settling charges against Copersucar Trading A.V.V. (Copersucar), an Aruban corporation and a subsidiary of Copersucar S.A., the world’s largest sugar and ethanol company, based in São Paolo, Brazil, for executing prearranged, noncompetitive wash trades involving Sugar No. 11 futures Trade at Settlement (TAS) contracts traded on ICE Futures U.S., Inc. (ICE), a designated contract market. The Order requires that Copersucar pay a $300,000 civil monetary penalty.
The Order finds that on multiple occasions between April 2013 and September 2014, Copersucar engaged in wash sales in ICE Sugar No. 11 futures TAS contracts. The Order finds that authorized agents of Copersucar, who were responsible for Copersucar’s trading operations, entered equal and opposite orders in the same futures product for separate accounts that were owned by Copersucar, and matched the product, quantity, and price of those orders when they were entered on the Exchange, often within seconds of each other. The Order finds that by so prearranging, structuring, and entering these orders, which negated the risk incidental to an open and competitive marketplace, Copersucar also engaged in noncompetitive transactions.
In addition to imposing the $300,000 civil monetary penalty, the Order requires Copersucar to cease and desist from further violations of Section 4c(a)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulation 1.38(a), as charged. The Order notes that Copersucar undertook several changes to its business operations, which led to a reduction in the need to transfer positions at or around the end of each trading month. Additionally, Copersucar has represented that it has instituted a number of changes in its policies and procedures in order to prevent future violations, including additional guidance regarding the wash trade prohibition and applicable contract market rules, use of self-trade prevention technology, and training for its agents.