Following its action against Enron earlier this month, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has illustrated its ongoing investigation of energy trading markets with the settlement of charges of natural gas price manipulation by El Paso Merchant Energy (EPME) and a separate charge of fraud against a natural gas trader.
El Paso has agreed to pay $20m to settle charges that, from at least June 2000 through to November 2001, it reported false natural gas trading information, including price and volume information, and failed to report...