The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Wednesday that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered supplemental consent orders against Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, bringing the agency’s enforcement actions against the two former FTX insiders to a close.
Ellison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research, received a five-year trading ban and a 10-year registration ban. Wang, who co-founded Alameda and FTX, received a five-year trading ban and an eight-year registration ban. The CFTC said it is not seeking monetary relief from either defendant.
Those restrictions run from the entry of the initial consent orders on Dec. 23, 2022. That places the expiration of both trading bans at the end of 2027, Ellison’s registration ban at the end of 2032, and Wang’s registration ban at the end of 2030. Both are also required to continue cooperating with the Commission.
The regulator said it is not seeking restitution, disgorgement, or civil monetary penalties at this stage. It pointed in part to the level of cooperation both provided in its FTX investigations and related proceedings, and to the $11.020 billion forfeiture order in the parallel criminal cases, "for which they are jointly and severally liable."
The initial orders, entered the same day in December 2022, found Ellison liable on both fraud counts in the CFTC’s amended complaint and Wang liable on the single count brought against him. The court also permanently enjoined both from violating the antifraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act.
In the criminal cases before the same court, Ellison and Wang each pleaded guilty in December 2022 to several charges, including conspiracy to commit commodities fraud.
The civil resolution arrived well after the criminal proceedings had largely wrapped up. Ellison was sentenced to two years in September 2024 and was released from federal custody in January after serving roughly 14 months. Wang and former engineering chief Nishad Singh received no prison time, while Sam Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year sentence.
Ellison served as the government’s central witness at Bankman-Fried’s trial. Over two days of testimony, she described how Alameda and FTX handled customer funds as the exchange unraveled.