The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is sanctioning CIBC for swaps reporting failures.
The derivatives regulator issued an order settling allegations that, since early 2017, CIBC violated trade reporting requirements when it was repeatedly late to report swaps trades to a registered data repository.
The bank’s late reporting “was pervasive … and impacted thousands of swaps,” the CFTC said.
According to the regulator’s order, the bank’s trade reporting issues came to light in 2019, when the National Futures Association conducted a compliance exam of CIBC, and identified timeliness problems in swaps trade reporting.
“Timely swaps reporting is a critical component of the swaps reporting regulatory regime, and it is essential to the overall effectiveness of the swaps reporting system,” said Ian McGinley, director of the CFTC’s enforcement division, in a release.
In its order, the CFTC said accurate trade reporting is essential to its market surveillance and enforcement programs, and that to ensuring market transparency.
The CFTC’s order imposed a US$1.25 million civil penalty on the bank, and ordered it to cease and desist from future violations.
It noted that the penalty reflects CIBC’s “substantial cooperation” with regulators, and its extensive efforts to enhance compliance.
“Where there is substantial cooperation, including significant voluntary reporting of factual findings and remediation, as was the case here, the CFTC will not hesitate to recognize a swap dealer’s engagement and efforts to be in compliance with the law,” McGinley said.