(Bloomberg) — The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Vitol Group half a million dollars for breaching position limits on exchanges trading cattle futures and crude oil.
The breaches, which involved the trading house holding a larger amount of contracts for the commodities than are allowed by US regulators, took place in 2022, the CFTC announced on Wednesday.
In cattle, Vitol held 771 December 2022 CME Live Cattle Futures contracts — the equivalent to more than 30 million pounds of steers or heifers — and 171 more than the federal spot month speculative limit of 600 contracts, according to the CFTC.
Regarded as the world’s biggest independent energy trader, Vitol traded 349 million tons of crude and oil products volumes over the course of 2023, but it’s exposure to agricultural commodities is much smaller.
The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Federal position limits are important and are in place to prevent this sort of manipulation,” said CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley. “Today’s action shows the CFTC will use its ability to look at positions on and across exchanges to enforce compliance and protect the integrity of the futures markets.”
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