Michael Selig

Contracts equivalent to at least 6 million barrels of crude were sold in about two minutes on 23 March 2026, roughly 15 minutes before President Donald Trump posted that he was reversing threatened strikes on Iranian energy facilities. More than $2 billion in S&P 500 futures also changed hands. CFTC market-oversight analysts flagged the activity and sent an enforcement referral after identifying market participants. According to Bloomberg reporting published on 13 October, Mel Gunewardena, a senior markets adviser to Chairman Michael Selig, then told staff to retract it.

The CFTC's own leadership page confirms Gunewardena's role as director of the Office of International Affairs and senior markets adviser to the chairman. A CFTC official told Bloomberg that the original analysis was too US-focused and that a broader international review was needed, and said the enforcement division was still examining the 23 March trading. The Department of Justice was reported to be running a parallel inquiry. That is the agency's strongest defence: the referral was withdrawn, but the examination did not stop.

The contradiction is that a regulator charged with protecting market integrity removed a formal staff referral in one of the most politically sensitive trading episodes of the year, involving a policy announcement by the president who nominated its chairman. Published reporting does not say Selig personally ordered the retraction, and nobody identified in the trading has been charged. Suspicious timing is grounds for investigation, not proof of insider dealing.

What comes next: Senator Elizabeth Warren said on 13 October that Selig and Gunewardena should answer Congress about the status of the inquiry and any enforcement action. A hearing, a documented decision trail or an enforcement case would be the next receipts.