After years as a sleepy federal backwater, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission became one of Wall Street's most aggressive watchdogs during the Barack Obama administration.
Now the agency — which is responsible for policing a broad swath of markets and financial machinery, from trading in commodities to digital currencies to the complex derivatives that helped torpedo the financial system in 2008 — is shifting its law enforcement strategy: It will increasingly look to banks and other financial institutions to come clean on their own about misconduct and problems in the market.
The commission's director of enforcement, James McDonald, plans to unveil the new framework in a speech Monday night at New York University. It is premised on the idea that large financial institutions, given the right incentives, have the potential to be invaluable partners for law enforcement.
“We start with the shared understanding that the vast majority of businesses want to comply with the law,” Mr. McDonald will say Monday, according to a draft of the speech reviewed by The New York Times.
“But we also know that companies with even the best intentions can make mistakes or have a few bad actors,” he will say. “We also recognize that no matter how much corporate leaders may want to foster compliance within the company, when they detect misconduct their decision whether to voluntarily report it often comes down to their perception of whether they'll be treated fairly.”
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