The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate the sharing of non-public information between the agencies in connection with investigations into possible market manipulation. In its press release announcing the MOU, the CFTC focused on information sharing related to investigations into fraud-based manipulation of the oil and gasoline markets. The MOU states that “[u]nless applicable law requires otherwise, the [CFTC and the FTC] shall take all actions reasonably necessary to preserve, protect and maintain all privileges and claims of confidentiality related to all nonpublic information provided pursuant to this MOU.”

The MOU is available here. The CFTC press release about the MOU can be found here.