The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will prioritize targeting market misconduct, including insider trading in prediction markets and manipulation in energy markets, the agency's new enforcement director said Tuesday.

David Miller, speaking publicly for the first time since assuming the role earlier this month, said the agency will focus on a core set of violations, including spoofing and willful breaches of laws against money laundering.

Recent scrutiny has followed well-timed trades placed ahead of major policy announcements by President Donald Trump, which may have generated significant profits for unidentified traders.

"We are aware of the speculation about insider trading," Miller said. "We are watching."

The CFTC and state regulators are engaged in legal disputes over jurisdiction for event contracts — financial instruments that allow traders to bet on binary outcomes of specific events.

Concerns about trading activity in these emerging markets have grown as their popularity has increased.

"Our position is that event contracts are not gaming. The event contracts at issue are swaps. Insider trading law applies," Miller said.

Miller also said the agency is moving away from what critics have described as “regulation by enforcement,” a term often used to characterize prior regulatory approaches.

Instead, he said the CFTC plans to expand incentives for cooperation with investigations.

Entities that fully cooperate and address violations could face reduced penalties, even if an investigation has already begun.

"Cooperation in our view is binary: You're either in or you're out," Miller said. "That means robust, full cooperation."