CFTC v. Dominick Anthony Cognata (failure to produce records, 2013)

Judgment entered

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In September 2013 the CFTC filed an administrative complaint against COMEX floor broker Dominick Anthony Cognata for not producing subpoenaed trading records, together with a notice of intent to revoke his registration. Cognata did not answer; the Commission finalized two default initial decisions on November 26, 2014, imposing a $140,000 penalty, a cease-and-desist order and revocation of his registration.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$140k

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$140k

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 September 30, 2013 as release 6724-13. The respondents named are Dominick Anthony Cognata (1 individual, 0 entities).

The complaint alleges that Cognata ignored an August 2012 subpoena for his trading cards and order tickets in gold and silver futures and options. The notice of intent to revoke cites that failure as good cause and also cites two earlier exchange disciplinary settlements, in which he neither admitted nor denied that he prearranged trades. Those exchange findings are history cited for the revocation, not charges in this action.

This library applies no technique tag to the matter. The matter charges failure to produce records. Prearranged trading appears only in the respondent's past exchange discipline.

Outcome. The CFTC's November 26, 2014 release says the Commission finalized two initial decisions issued on October 22, 2014 by its Chief Administrative Law Judge. In the complaint proceeding the judge found Cognata in default for filing no answer, found that ignoring the subpoena violated the Commodity Exchange Act's recordkeeping rules, rejected the Fifth Amendment objection because the subpoenaed cards and tickets were required records, and ordered a cease-and-desist and a $140,000 civil monetary penalty. In the second proceeding he was again in default and his floor-broker registration was revoked for other good cause, citing the two earlier exchange settlements and the records failure. These are default findings rather than contested ones. The release shows no disgorgement and does not say whether the penalty was paid.

Timeline

1. 2013-09-30 CFTC release published
2. 2014-11-26 CFTC finalizes default decisions: $140,000 penalty, cease-and-desist, registration revoked

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 7070-14 (final orders)

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.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.