CFTC v. Daniel Shak (order violation, 2014)

Settled

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In September 2014 the CFTC filed a complaint in the District of Columbia against Daniel Shak of Las Vegas, alleging he violated a 2013 CFTC order by trading two gold futures contracts during a closing period on May 22, 2014. A consent order entered on March 27, 2015 required a $100,000 penalty and extended his closing-period trading prohibition by two years; the $400,000 in the filing release is the penalty in the earlier 2013 order.

The record

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 October 1, 2014 as release 7020-14. The respondent named is Daniel Shak (1 individual, 0 entities). The action was brought in the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.

The 2013 order had settled charges of attempted manipulation of crude oil futures and position limit violations, and banned Shak from trading outrights during closing periods for two years. The complaint concerned breach of that ban, not a new manipulation charge. This library carries no technique tag on this matter.

The conduct is recorded against commodities and futures, with NYMEX identified in the release.

Non-monetary relief recorded: trading ban.

Outcome. The CFTC's March 30, 2015 release says Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia entered a consent order of permanent injunction against Shak on March 27, 2015. It requires a $100,000 civil monetary penalty to settle the charge that he breached the 2013 order, and extends for two years from that date his prohibition on trading outright futures in any market during the closing period. It states no disgorgement. As a consent order it is a settlement; the release does not say whether Shak admitted the allegations.

Timeline

1. 2014-09-30 CFTC release published
2. 2015-03-27 Consent order entered: $100,000 penalty, extended closing-period trading ban

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
• CFTC release 7146-15 (consent order)

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.

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.