CFTC Charges Optiver Holding With Oil Prices Manipulation

New York, NY (AHN) - The U.S. futures market regulator on Thursday filed a lawsuit against a Netherlands-based global oil trading firm for allegedly manipulating oil prices.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged Optiver Holding BV, two of its subsidiaries and three employees with manipulating energy futures contracts.

The charges against Optiver Holding with attempted manipulation of crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange in March 2007 are the first of its kind after the government began a new investigation into wrongdoings in the energy markets.

CFTC has filed the civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the global proprietary trading fund and the other defendants.

The complaint alleges that Optiver Holding and the other defendants -- including Optiver US, LLC, a Chicago-based corporation, and Optiver VOF, a Dutch company stage -- profited by approximately $1 million by using a manipulative scheme.

"These charges go to the heart of the CFTC's core mission of detecting and rooting out illegal manipulation of the markets," CFTC Acting Chairman Walt Lukken said in a statement on Thursday.