CFTC Orders New York Trader to Pay $200,000 for Spoofing Treasury Futures | LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has ordered Sidney Lebental, a dual French-American national based in New York City, to pay a $200,000 civil monetary penalty for spoofing Ultra U.S. Treasury Bond futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade. The CFTC order, published on 6 May 2026, also imposes a one-month ban on Lebental trading in CFTC-regulated markets and requires him to cease and desist from further spoofing violations.

The CFTC found that Lebental engaged in approximately 50 instances of spoofing between January and September 2019. The conduct involved placing bids or offers with the intent to cancel them before execution — a practice that artificially moves prices by creating a false impression of supply or demand. Spoofing in U.S. Treasury futures is particularly significant given the role these instruments play as global benchmarks for interest rate pricing. The CFTC’s order notes that Lebental’s activity spanned the full range of this spoofing definition under the Commodity Exchange Act, Section 4c(a)(5)(C).

This action is part of an ongoing CFTC enforcement focus on spoofing that dates to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and accelerated following the 2020 JPMorgan precious metals spoofing settlement, which resulted in a $920 million combined penalty. The CFTC has brought spoofing charges against individual traders at large banks, hedge funds, and proprietary trading firms. A $200,000 individual penalty is at the lower end of recent spoofing cases — most institutional spoofing settlements are in the millions — but the accompanying trading ban reflects the CFTC’s position that deterrence requires personal consequences beyond financial penalties.

Source: CFTC Press Release 9227-26