CFTC Official Blocks Insider Trading Probe Into Oil Trades

A senior official at the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission reportedly intervened to block a referral for an insider trading investigation involving suspicious oil trades. The trades occurred on March 23, minutes before Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the United States was postponing planned strikes on Iranian energy facilities.

Billions of dollars in contracts were traded in the 15 minutes preceding the announcement, which reversed a previous U.S. ultimatum regarding the Strait of Hormuz. While CFTC analysts identified the traders and referred the findings to the agency's enforcement division, the senior official, acting as an adviser to the Trump-appointed chairman, ordered the retraction of the referral.

The CFTC has declined to comment on the existence of an investigation, though an official stated the agency decided to widen the remit of its analysis. The United States Department of Justice is reportedly conducting a parallel investigation into the trades.