The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is in discussions to settle a national crude oil investigation against proprietary trading firm Optiver, Financial Times reports. The CFTC asked for $10 million in penalties from the Netherlands-based trader. Optiver had been accused of scheming to manipulate oil futures markets on 11 days of March 2007. Optiver drew $1 million in illicit profits by using a software program to send out rapid-fire electronic orders. The case was filed in July 2008 after the CFTC unveiled its oil investigation under political pressure to respond as crude prices topped $100 a barrel.
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