CFTC Finalizes Trading Bans for Former FTX Executives

The supplemental orders, entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on August 19, formalize restrictions that retroactively began on December 23, 2022. Ellison faces a five-year trading ban and a 10-year registration bar, while Wang is subject to a five-year trading ban and an eight-year registration restriction. These measures prevent both individuals from participating in CFTC-regulated markets for the specified periods.

Regulators opted against pursuing additional financial penalties, citing the defendants' substantial assistance in investigations and their shared liability for an $11.02 billion forfeiture order issued in parallel criminal proceedings. CFTC Enforcement Director David I. Miller noted that these sanctions prioritize the value of "robust cooperation" over further monetary levies. Both Ellison and Wang admitted liability in 2022 for their roles in a scheme that facilitated the misuse of over $8 billion in customer deposits, including the creation of software "backdoors" that granted Alameda Research preferential access to exchange assets.