May 14, 2004

US's CFTC To Wrap BSE Info Leak Investigation In Summer

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, working with the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington D.C., expects to finish this summer an investigation into live cattle trading on leaked information about the U.S. discovery of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, CFTC Chairman James Newsome said Thursday.

Newsome, speaking to reporters after a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, said, "Any time there is a potential or alleged wrongdoing within the live cattle market, it's something that...the Commission looks at closely. ... We take very seriously allegations of...people trading on leaked information."

The chairman said the U.S. Attorney's office is involved because: "Any time there is the potential that it's both a civil and a criminal violation...we seek to cooperate with criminal authorities."

Newsome would not comment on any evidence of a crime in the case, but Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said he believes it is "quite likely" there was wrongdoing.

Conrad, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said, "If you look at the price movements before the announcement, it really jumps out at you. Something was going on there. Somebody knew something."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Dec. 23 that it had discovered a case of BSE in a single dairy cow in Washington state.