Regulators reportedly zeroing in on suspicious trades ahead of Trump post

U.S. derivatives regulators are examining a series of unusual oil futures trades that occurred minutes before President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement signaling a pause in attacks on Iran. According to Bloomberg News.

The investigation is being conducted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is examining activities at trading venues operated by CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Both exchanges were asked to hand over relevant records.

Regulators are focusing on at least two occasions in a roughly two-week period when trading volumes increased sharply just before major announcements. Sources said the information sought included Tag 50 identifiers that could be used to determine who was behind the swaps.

The CFTC and ICE declined to comment.

CME did not comment specifically on unusual transactions tied to Trump’s announcement, but the exchange said any investigation should include new platforms such as participants in prediction markets.

“Nothing is more important than market integrity,” a CME spokesperson told CNBC. “We vigorously monitor our markets and work closely with the CFTC to oversee trading activity. Importantly, any review of market behavior must include all venues, including prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi, which list related products with little or no visibility.”

CNBC previously reported suspicious activity on March 23, when S&P 500 e-mini futures and West Texas Intermediate May crude futures saw a sudden and isolated increase in volume in otherwise muted premarket trading.

About 15 minutes later, Trump said on Truth Social that the United States and Iran were in talks and halted planned attacks on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure. The announcement triggered an immediate reaction in the markets; S&P 500 futures rose more than 2.5% ahead of the open, while WTI crude oil futures fell nearly 6%.

Sudden, simultaneous increases in volume in the stock index and crude futures drew investor ire, especially because they came without any clear news or trigger at the time.

Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and Sheldon Whitehouse, D.R.I., A call was made to the CFTC Opening investigations into such unusual dealings raises the question of whether important non-public government information is being repeatedly misused.

– Click here to read Original Bloomberg News story.