A group of eleven British day traders, operating under Futures Trading Facilities Ltd, has offered to donate £1 million to the Crisis and Resilience Fund to close an FCA competition probe and avoid further litigation costs. The regulator is examining whether the traders shared sensitive information that may have distorted global commodity futures markets between November 2019 and May 2020.

The FCA identified the same eleven traders after a 2020 Bloomberg investigation linked several of them to Vega Capital London, which earned $700 million in a few hours when crude oil prices briefly fell to –$38 per barrel on April 20, 2020. That historic negative price sparked investor losses and raised questions about market integrity, storage constraints, and highlighted gaps in market surveillance mechanisms.

In addition to the charitable payment, the traders propose annual competition‑law training and revised handling of sensitive data. The FCA has not ruled on any breach, noting the offer exceeds any potential fine. Regulators will decide whether to accept the package and formally close the investigation, ending the dispute without admission of wrongdoing. The settlement also signals to other firms the regulator’s willingness to negotiate.