Traders made billion-dollar deals before Trump's statements on Iran, senators demand investigation
Kyiv • UNN
Traders made billion-dollar deals minutes before Trump's statements on war with Iran. Senators demand CFTC investigate timely sales of oil futures.
Sharp statements by US President Donald Trump regarding the war with Iran have caused a wave of suspicion of possible insider trading in financial markets. This is reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
Details
According to the publication, against the backdrop of high market volatility, some deals looked "too timely" - they were concluded literally minutes before Trump's public statements or his social media posts.
In particular, on April 7, traders sold oil futures for more than 15 million barrels worth about $1.7 billion in two minutes. Just a few hours later, Trump announced a two-week ceasefire, after which oil prices sharply fell by more than 15%, and stocks rose.
A similar situation occurred on March 23 - minutes before the announcement of a delay in strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, large-scale deals took place in the oil and stock markets.
Investigation and political pressure
Senator Elizabeth Warren appealed to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with a demand to investigate these operations. Later, Congressman Ritchie Torres called for an expanded investigation, stating an "alarming pattern."
The CFTC has not yet officially commented on the progress of the investigation.
At the same time, the White House denies any wrongdoing.
Any insinuation of officials' involvement in insider trading without evidence is baseless
Volatility and risks
The oil market has recently shown fluctuations not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. Every new statement regarding the war with Iran - from threats to truces - instantly affects commodity prices and stock indices.
Analysts note that proving insider trading in such cases is difficult, especially in the derivatives market, but regulators have sufficient powers to investigate.
At the same time, interest in betting on geopolitical events on specialized platforms is growing, which also raises questions about market transparency.