A Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner has proposed the establishment of a National Financial Fraud Registry to provide investors with a database of companies or individuals with which they may invest. The comprehensive database would list the companies and individuals that have been convicted of or fined for a financial crime.

In a speech to the North American Securities Administrators Association’s Annual Meeting in San Diego. on Sept. 11, Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero reintroduced the proposal for such a registry that she first made in 2019, when she served as special inspector general with the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), The Washington Post reported. SIGTARP, which investigated crimes at companies that received taxpayer bailouts during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, created a Financial Institution Crimes and Fines Database of its findings. That led Goldsmith Romero to propose a broader version that would compile results from across the federal government, but the idea went nowhere, The Washington Post reported.

“What I propose is a coordinated approach by federal leaders to create a single public access point to information on fraud convictions and civil fines,” Goldsmith Romero said. “Once established, each federal agency would register its convictions, sentencings, civil fines and resolved enforcement actions. State and local agencies could join to achieve a true national fraud registry.”

“This would be a comprehensive record that the public can easily check before giving someone their money, their trust, and their business,” she continued. “Would-be fraudsters will not like that ease and accessibility, creating a powerful deterrence. This would ease government’s identification of repeat offenders.”

American consumers reported losing more than $3.8 billion to investment scams in 2022, more than any other category, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported. The CFTC has brought approximately 115 matters relating to digital assets, including 33 announced so far during this fiscal year, CFTC Director of Enforcement Ian McGinley told the Practising Law Institute’s “White Collar Crime 2023” program on Sept. 11.