Clifford Chance

Spoofing: the first criminal conviction comes in the US – perspectives from the US and UK

18 November 2015

US authorities have secured their first criminal conviction for the spoofing offense added to the US Commodity Exchange Act by the Dodd Frank Act. Following the conviction commentators have expressed concern that, as authorities on both sides of the Atlantic seek to increase the number of spoofing cases they pursue, they may find it difficult to distinguish between traders who are spoofing and those pursuing legitimate trading strategies. Against that background we recap the scope of the US anti-spoofing offense and compare the position in the US to the position in the UK where, unlike in the US, civil liability for spoofing can be incurred without a showing of intent.

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