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US regulator takes down statements on Kraft Heinz, Mondelez case settlement

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has pulled statements posted on its website that were deemed to be in violation of the agency's settlement agreement with Mondelez International Inc. and The Kraft Heinz Co., Financial Times reported Aug. 19.

The financial regulator on Aug. 15 fined the two consumer goods giants $16 million to settle claims that they fixed wheat prices in mid-2011. The case dates back to 2015, prior to the merger of Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz Holding Corp.

The FT said shortly after the agency fined Mondelez and Kraft, it released a statement that reportedly went against its settlement deal with the two companies. The agreement included an unusual provision censoring what the agency could say in public about the case, the report said.

As a result, federal judge John Robert Blakey ordered the CFTC's recently sworn chairman, Heath Tarbert, alongside two commissioners and the agency's enforcement director, to testify at a hearing in Chicago on Sept. 12 after Mondelez and Kraft accused the CFTC of violating the court-approved order. Both companies are seeking a ruling of civil contempt, not criminal contempt, the report added.

The FT said the commission asserted the fifth amendment and argued that the order to which it agreed did not prevent individual commissioners from commenting.

"Defendants were represented by able counsel throughout these proceedings, and the terms of the order were fairly negotiated," the legal team of CFTC reportedly said.