§ 13. Violations generally; punishment; costs of prosecution

(a) Felonies generally

It shall be a felony punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000,000 or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution, for:

(1) Any person registered or required to be registered under this chapter, or any employee or agent thereof, to embezzle, steal, purloin, or with criminal intent convert to such person’s use or to the use of another, any money, securities, or property having a value in excess of $100, which was received by such person or any employee or agent thereof to margin, guarantee, or secure the trades or contracts of any customer or accruing to such customer as a result of such trades or contracts or which otherwise was received from any customer, client, or pool participant in connection with the business of such person. The word “value” as used in this paragraph means face, par, or market value, or cost price, either wholesale or retail, whichever is greater.

(2) Any person to manipulate or attempt to manipulate the price of any commodity in interstate commerce, or for future delivery on or subject to the rules of any registered entity, or to corner or attempt to corner any such commodity or knowingly to deliver or cause to be delivered for transmission through the mails or interstate commerce by telegraph, telephone, wireless, or other means of communication false or misleading or knowingly inaccurate reports concerning crop or market information or conditions that affect or tend to affect the price of any commodity in interstate commerce, or knowingly to violate the provisions of section 6, section 6b, subsections (a) through (e) of subsection ^[1] 6c, section 6h, section 6o(1), or section 23 of this title.

(3) Any person knowingly to make, or cause to be made, any statement in any application, report, or document required to be filed under this chapter or any rule or regulation thereunder or any undertaking contained in a registration statement required under this chapter, or by any registered entity or registered futures association in connection with an application for membership or participation therein or to become associated with a member thereof, which statement was false or misleading with respect to any material fact, or knowingly to omit any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

(4) Any person willfully to falsify, conceal, or cover up by any trick, scheme, or artifice a material fact, make any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, or make or use any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry to a registered entity, board of trade, or futures association designated or registered under this chapter acting in furtherance of its official duties under this chapter.

(5) Any person willfully to violate any other provision of this chapter, or any rule or regulation thereunder, the violation of which is made unlawful or the observance of which is required under the terms of this chapter, but no person shall be subject to imprisonment under this paragraph for the violation of any rule or regulation if such person proves that he had no knowledge of such rule or regulation.

(b) Suspension of convicted felons

Any person convicted of a felony under this section shall be suspended from registration under this chapter and shall be denied registration or reregistration for five years or such longer period as the Commission may determine, and barred from using, or participating in any manner in, any market regulated by the Commission for five years or such longer period as the Commission shall determine, on such terms and conditions as the Commission may prescribe, unless the Commission determines that the imposition of such suspension, denial of registration or reregistration, or market bar is not required to protect the public interest. The Commission may upon petition later review such disqualification and market bar and for good cause shown reduce the period thereof.

It shall be a felony punishable by a fine of not more than $500,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution, for any Commissioner of the Commission or any employee or agent thereof, to participate, directly or indirectly, in any transaction in commodity futures or any transaction of the character of or which is commonly known to the trade as an “option”, “privilege”, “indemnity”, “bid”, “offer”, “put”, “call”, “advance guaranty”, or “decline guaranty”, or any transaction for the delivery of any commodity under a standardized contract commonly known to the trade as a margin account, margin contract, leverage account, or leverage contract, or under any contract, account, arrangement, scheme, or device that the Commission determines serves the same function or functions as such a standardized contract, or is marketed or managed in substantially the same manner as such a standardized contract, or for any such person to participate, directly or indirectly, in any investment transaction in an actual commodity if nonpublic information is used in the investment transaction, if the investment transaction is prohibited by rule or regulation of the Commission, or if the investment transaction is effected by means of any instrument regulated by the Commission. The foregoing prohibitions shall not apply to any transaction or class of transactions that the Commission, by rule or regulation, has determined would not be contrary to the public interest or otherwise inconsistent with the purposes of this subsection.

(d) Use of information by Commissioners and Commission employees prohibited

It shall be a felony punishable by a fine of not more than $500,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution—

(1) for any Commissioner of the Commission or any employee or agent thereof who, by virtue of his employment or position, acquires information which may affect or tend to affect the price of any commodity futures or commodity and which information has not been made public to impart such information with intent to assist another person, directly or indirectly, to participate in any transaction in commodity futures, any transaction in an actual commodity, or in any transaction of the character of or which is commonly known to the trade as an “option”, “privilege”, “indemnity”, “bid”, “offer”, “put”, “call”, “advance guaranty”, or “decline guaranty”, or in any transaction for the delivery of any commodity under a standardized contract commonly known to the trade as a margin account, margin contract, leverage account, or leverage contract, or under any contract, account, arrangement, scheme, or device that the Commission determines serves the same function or functions as such a standardized contract, or is marketed or managed in substantially the same manner as such a standardized contract; and

(2) for any person to acquire such information from any Commissioner of the Commission or any employee or agent thereof and to use such information in any transaction in commodity futures, any transaction in an actual commodity, or in any transaction of the character of or which is commonly known to the trade as an “option”, “privilege”, “indemnity”, “bid”, “offer”, “put”, “call”, “advance guaranty”, or “decline guaranty”, or in any transaction for the delivery of any commodity under a standardized contract commonly known to the trade as a margin account, margin contract, leverage account, or leverage contract, or under any contract, account, arrangement, scheme, or device that the Commission determines serves the same function or functions as such a standardized contract, or is marketed or managed in substantially the same manner as such a standardized contract.

(e) Insider trading prohibited

It shall be a felony for any person—

(1) who is an employee, member of the governing board, or member of any committee of a board of trade, registered entity, or registered futures association, in violation of a regulation issued by the Commission, willfully and knowingly to trade for such person’s own account, or for or on behalf of any other account, in contracts for future delivery or options thereon on the basis of, or willfully and knowingly to disclose for any purpose inconsistent with the performance of such person’s official duties as an employee or member, any material nonpublic information obtained through special access related to the performance of such duties; or

(2) willfully and knowingly to trade for such person’s own account, or for or on behalf of any other account, in contracts for future delivery or options thereon on the basis of any material nonpublic information that such person knows was obtained in violation of paragraph (1) from an employee, member of the governing board, or member of any committee of a board of trade, registered entity, or registered futures association.

Such felony shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500,000, plus the amount of any profits realized from such trading or disclosure made in violation of this subsection, or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

[1] So in original. Probably should be “section”.

U.S. Code

§ 13. Violations generally; punishment; costs of prosecution