TotalEnergies Hit With $48M Fine For Market Manipulation

TotalEnergies SE TTE shares are trading lower Wednesday morning after regulators ordered the French petroleum company to pay a $48 million fine.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an order against TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA, formerly TOTSA Total Oil Trading SA, for attempting to manipulate EBOB-linked futures contracts to benefit its derivatives positions.

The CFTC order mandates that TOTSA pay a $48 million fine and prohibits the company from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and related regulations.

In March 2018, TOTSA allegedly sold physical EBOB at prices below what buyers were willing to pay. Afterward, the company enjoyed record sales volumes.

Also Read: TotalEnergies Accelerates Decarbonization with Biofuel Breakthrough: Details

TOTSA’s transactions accounted for over 60% of the total brokered market volume, influencing the Argus EBOB Benchmark.

Simultaneously, TOTSA held a large short position in March-settled EBOB-linked futures, which would benefit from a decline in the reported EBOB price.

CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley said the CFTC guards market integrity “by detecting and prosecuting these benchmark-related schemes.”

“The scheme in this matter involved an attack on the market integrity of CFTC-regulated futures contracts on gasoline, and this settlement demonstrates such attacks will not be tolerated in any market.”

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund IV FT Energy Income Partners Strategy ETF EIPX and First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII FT Energy Income Partners Enhanced Income ETF EIPI.

Price Action: TTE shares are down 0.73% at $69.66 at the last check Wednesday.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.