Partner
Peter Riggs is an experienced litigator and regulatory attorney that advises clients across the financial services industry in litigation, government and internal investigations, and bankruptcy and creditors’ rights matters.
Peter focuses his practice on financial services litigation and government and internal investigations. In serving clients’ needs in these areas, he draws upon over a decade of experience with the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, most recently as a Chief Trial Attorney. While at the CFTC, Peter first-chaired many high profile and complex cases involving violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulations, including cases involving spoofing, unauthorized trading, Ponzi schemes, trade practice abuses, insider trading, consumer protection, and many others. His work concerned futures, swaps, options, and other derivatives across various markets, often in coordination with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Futures Association, and other domestic and international authorities. This experience enables Peter to assist clients in navigating the litigation challenges they face, as well as to steer clients through a rapidly developing regulatory and enforcement environment.
Peter also has deep experience representing financial services clients in commercial bankruptcy cases, loan restructurings, workouts, and other creditors’ rights matters. He works closely with clients to understand their specific needs in each case and devises tailored solutions focused on maximizing the client’s objectives. Peter has first and second chair experience in state and federal court, as well as in arbitration.
Highlights of Peter’s experience include:
- Conducted an investigation and negotiated an administrative settlement with a proprietary trading firm on charges of spoofing, resulting in a fine of $1.1 million and ordering the firm to cease and desist from further violations of the spoofing prohibition of the Commodity Exchange Act.
- Served as lead counsel on administrative settlement involving an introducing broker and its principals on charges of fraud, unauthorized trading, position limit violations, and making false and misleading statements to an exchange. In total, the case imposed nearly twelve million dollars in restitution to affected customers, two and a half million dollars in fines (paid in equal halves to the CFTC and an exchange), and imposed a trading suspension and a registration ban on one of the principals involved.
- Led the investigative efforts and negotiated an administrative resolution of charges of fraud, unauthorized trading, and violating speculative position limits against a former trader at an introducing broker, resulting in a fine of $1.25 million and permanent restrictions on the trader’s registration.
- Negotiated Division-level cooperation agreements and administrative settlements with two traders involved in a manipulative spoofing scheme. In a novel approach to the resolutions, the traders’ penalty phases were bifurcated from the liability portions of the cases, which allowed cooperation to be assessed prior to determining the proper penalty.
To view Peter’s additional experience, please click here.
Presentations and Publications
- Post Confirmation Issues, guest lecturer, University of Kansas School of Law, Advanced Bankruptcy Section, March 2009
- Department of Defense Issues Final Regulations Limiting Closed-End Lending to Soldiers, Clarks’ Secured Transactions Monthly, Volume 23, No. 7, September 2007
Community Involvement
- Youth Basketball Coach, Great American Basketball League, Shawnee, KS (2014-2019)
- Assistant Varsity Coach, Mill Valley High School Boys Basketball, Shawnee, KS (2015-16)
Memberships
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- Arizona Bar Association
- Missouri Bar Association
- Kansas Bar Association
Contact Peter Riggs at 816.292.8149 or priggs@spencerfane.com.