The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has significantly scaled back enforcement actions under the Trump administration, filing an average of one new complaint per month — one-fifth the rate of the Biden era. This reduction affects major commodity markets, particularly cotton, where investigations into Olam Group and Louis Dreyfus Company were halted or slowed. During the final months of the Biden administration, the C.

F. T. C. secured a $3.25 million settlement against Olam Group for misleading markets about cotton exports to China.

However, just as lawyers prepared civil charges against Louis Dreyfus Company for similar allegations, the Trump-appointed acting chairwoman shut down the inquiry, questioning evidence adequacy. The agency’s enforcement decline extends across all sectors, with financial penalties dropping to $11 million year-to-date from over $380 million in the same 2024 period. Rick Glaser, a former deputy director, criticized the shift, stating the agency’s commitment to enforcement “seems to have vanished.” Brooke Nethercott, the agency’s spokeswoman, defended the approach, suggesting the Biden administration fined industries billions for minor administrative offenses.

Chairman Michael S. Selig, sworn in in December, hired a new enforcement chief partly due to that lawyer’s track record protecting companies from “overzealous regulators.” Critics argue the rollback raises fairness concerns, while the C. F.

T. C. has simultaneously fast-tracked cryptocurrency approvals and intervened in prediction market investigations linked to the Trump family.