Release: #4183-98
For Release: August 26, 1998

U.S. Circuit Court Affirms Subpoena Enforcement Order in CFTC v. Richard W. Tokheim, No. 97-4120

WASHINGTON--The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ordered Richard W. Tokheim to produce customer lists and other proprietary information to investigators for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Tokheim, an Omaha, Nebraska resident, had argued that the CFTC was required to show that his activities were covered by the Commodity Exchange Act (Act) before it could enforce an administrative subpoena against him. In a decision dated August 18, 1998, the Seventh Circuit rejected this argument, writing that: "If, as Tokheim argues, the Commission first had to make a valid finding of coverage before it could enforce an investigatory subpoena, it would be unable to fulfill its investigatory responsibilities under the Act. The traditional understanding of an agency's investigatory powers is precisely to the contrary."