WASHINGTON — For one hour last week, it was the government on the defense.
Top enforcement officials of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission assured energy lawyers they respect the due process rights of investigative targets, rejecting allegations that they have employed heavy-handed tactics.
“I think FERC really bends over backwards to provide a tremendous amount of process,” Larry D. Gasteiger, Deputy Director of FERC’s Office of Enforcement, insisted during an Energy Bar Association panel discussion on regulation of commodity traders.
Gasteiger and Rick Glaser, Deputy Director of the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement, were in agreement in rejecting allegations that their agencies employ “perjury traps.” But Gasteiger was left alone at the EBA’s annual meeting to defend FERC’s policy of naming individuals who have not been formally charged with wrongdoing.