Agency: Commodity Futures Trading Commission
What to Do
- Gather evidence of the CEA violation. Collect documents, communications, and trading records evidencing the potential violation of the Commodity Exchange Act — manipulation, fraud, swap dealer misconduct, or other violations. Specific, documented evidence significantly improves your tip’s likelihood of generating an enforcement action.
- Submit your tip online. Use the CFTC’s online tip portal at whistleblower.gov. You may submit under your own name or anonymously. To maintain anonymity, you must be represented by an attorney who certifies your identity to the CFTC — anonymous tips are eligible for awards as long as your attorney identifies you before the award is paid.
- Preserve your records. Save copies of everything submitted. CFTC may contact you or your attorney for additional information during any resulting investigation.
- Monitor CFTC enforcement actions. CFTC does not notify tipsters of investigation status. If you believe an enforcement action is based substantially on your information, submit a CFTC Whistleblower Award Application (WB-APP) after the action is publicly announced.
- Award determination. If CFTC sanctions exceed $1 million and CFTC finds your tip contributed, you may receive 10–30% of collected sanctions. Award determinations may take years after the enforcement action closes.
Important — Other Procedures May Be Affected:
Submitting a tip here does not constitute an anti-retaliation complaint. If you experienced adverse action for providing information to the CFTC, you may have a separate retaliation claim under CEA § 23(h)(1) in federal district court. That claim must be filed within 2 years of the retaliation.