CFTC v. Daniel Shak (2015)

Judgment entered

Checked against the primary document on October 2, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In March 2015 the CFTC announced a March 27 consent order in the District of Columbia requiring Daniel Shak to pay a $100,000 penalty for violating a 2013 CFTC order that banned him from trading outright futures during closing periods. The 2013 order had concerned attempted manipulation of crude oil futures, but this case is about his breach of that order.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency	CFTC
Release number	7146-15
Date filed	2015-03-30
Date resolved	2015-03-30
Court	U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
Status	judgment
Asset class	commodities, futures
Criminal parallel	No
Bars imposed	trading ban
Defendants	Daniel Shak (individual)
Techniques

What was ordered

Civil penalty: $100k
Disgorgement: —
Prejudgment interest: —
Total relief: $100k
Alleged gain: —

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced this matter on March 31, 2015 as release 7146-15. The respondents named are Daniel Shak (1 individual, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.

The release says Shak traded gold futures during a closing period in breach of the 2013 order and the court entered a permanent injunction. The earlier attempted manipulation is background, not the conduct charged here. This library carries no technique tag on this matter.

The conduct is recorded against commodities and futures.

The relief recorded in our data is a civil monetary penalty of $100,000. Penalty and disgorgement are distinct: disgorgement returns the gain, while the penalty is punitive. We store them separately so that aggregate figures across the library are not double-counted.

Non-monetary relief recorded: trading ban.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

Timeline

2015-03-30 CFTC release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

CFTC release

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

Date filed	Agency	Record	Status
2014-09-30	CFTC	CFTC v. Daniel Shak (order violation, 2014)	Settled
2015-03-30	CFTC	CFTC v. Daniel Shak (2015)(this record)	Judgment entered

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.