U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Byrnes

Background

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission brought this action under the Commodity Exchange Act and related regulations. The Commission’s enforcement division and Defendants William Byrnes, Christopher Curtin, and the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. reached an agreement in principle that would resolve the Commission’s claims against those defendants. The proposed consent order still required approval by the Commission’s Commissioners.

The proposed settlement would not resolve the entire case because it did not cover the Commission’s aiding-and-abetting claim against Defendant Ron Eibschutz. The letter states that the court had previously granted the Commission partial summary judgment on Eibschutz’s liability for aiding and abetting violations by Byrnes and Curtin, to the extent those violations were found at trial.

Request and Ruling

To avoid unnecessary expense and allow time for Commission approval, the Commission and the settling defendants asked the court to stay the case and adjourn all pretrial deadlines and the trial date. Eibschutz joined that request. The parties proposed filing a status report by July 31, 2020 addressing the settlement’s approval, settlement discussions with Eibschutz, and a revised pretrial schedule and trial date.

Judge Vernon S. Broderick granted the application. The order stayed the case and adjourned the pretrial deadlines and trial date. The document does not state the length of the stay beyond the proposed July 31, 2020 status-report date.