US probes whether traders profited off tips on Russia at Opec+

[BENGALURU] The US is probing whether traders with inside information on Russia's discussions with other oil producing countries profited from illegal wagers on crude price swings, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people close to the matter.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) probe is focused on whether aspects of the strategy that the Russian government pursued last month with other members of the Opec+ coalition leaked out to market participants ahead of time, according to the report.

For the same reason, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is also investigating the trades in futures contracts, the report said.

While the traders involved were not Russian government officials, the entities that made the bets do employ individuals with ties to the Kremlin, Bloomberg News reported, adding that the names of the traders could not be identified.

The CFTC is mainly scrutinising transactions involving CME Group Inc West Texas Intermediate contracts that expired before Monday's price swoon, according to the report.

A CFTC spokesperson declined to comment, while the FCA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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REUTERS