In the Matter of Interactive Brokers, LLC, CFTC Docket No. 13-19.  On April 9, 2013, the CFTC announced it filed settled administrative charges against Interactive Brokers, LLC.  Without admitting or denying the charges, Interactive Brokers consented to entry of a CFTC Order requiring it to pay a $225,000 civil monetary penalty and to cease and desist from violating CFTC Regulations.  The CFTC Order finds that Interactive Brokers did not compute as of the close of business each day the amount of customer funds required to be on deposit and the amount of customer funds actually on deposit in segregated accounts.
In addition, Interactive Brokers covered a portion of its U.S. Dollar (“USD”) commodity futures and options customer obligations with Japanese yen and Swiss francs to enhance interest earnings.  As a result, it did not have enough USD in segregation to meet its obligations.  The shortfall ranged from $90 million to $300 million.  Interactive Brokers discovered and self-reported the violations to the CFTC.  Lastly, the CFTC Order finds that Interactive Brokers did not have adequate procedures in place and failed to adequately train and supervise its officers, employees, and agents.  Interactive Brokers independently implemented corrective measures after discovering the violations and cooperated with the CFTC’s investigation.