Foreign exchange derivative prohibition confirmed; civil penalties apply without mens rea and mitigation reduced the quantified penalty.

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....Prohibition on entering foreign exchange derivative contracts without prior regulatory permission is affirmed: respondent conceded online trading in prohibited derivatives and the transactions constituted contraventions of applicable derivative regulations and direction instruments, establishing liability. The opinion applies the principle that civil penalties for regulatory contraventions do not require mens rea, following precedent treating such breaches as civil obligations; penalty under the statutory scheme is therefore attractable once contravention is proved. The commentary notes mitigation: the adjudicator reduced the quantified penalty and ordered adjustment of the pre-deposit against the reduced amount.....