District Court Rules That Where Bids Have an Underlying Legitimate Economic Rationale, Intent to Affect Prices Is Insufficient to Establish Market Manipulation

On November 30, 2018, Judge Richard Sullivan issued a long-anticipated decision in favor of the defendants in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Wilson, No. 13 Civ. 7884, following a four-day bench trial in December 2016 before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The court held that the CFTC failed to meet its burden of proof in establishing claims of market manipulation or attempted market manipulation under Sections 6(c) and 9(a)(2) of…