Federal judge refuses to void Gemini's $5m CFTC settlement

Federal judge rejects Gemini-CFTC bid to void 5 million dollar settlement

A federal judge has denied a joint request by Gemini Trust and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to set aside a 5 million dollar civil settlement, ruling that a change in agency policy does not constitute grounds to reopen a final judgment.

The court noted that Gemini had agreed to the settlement voluntarily, three weeks before the case was scheduled for trial. The judge found that neither party had presented the procedural basis required under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) to disturb a consent order after entry.

The ruling carries weight beyond Gemini. The CFTC under its current leadership has moved to unwind or revisit several enforcement outcomes from prior administrations, framing them as policy overcorrections. This decision establishes that federal courts will apply settled finality doctrine regardless of whether the enforcing agency now shares the defendant's view of the original action.

The standard a party must meet to vacate a final civil judgment is whether the judgment was the product of fraud, newly discovered evidence, or a void order. A supervening change in the regulator's enforcement philosophy satisfies none of those criteria.

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Victoria Blackwell

Legal & Regulatory Analyst

Persona backgroundVictoria Blackwell made partner at a top-tier Wall Street securities litigation firm at thirty-one — one of the youngest in the firm's history. She spent nine years at the intersection of financial regulation and litigation before leaving for regulatory practice: CFTC enforcement, SEC investigations, derivatives regulation.