Options Sale Case Against Cargill Dismissed

A judge dismissed charges that Cargill Inc., the largest privately held company in the U.S., illegally sold options for the future delivery of grain. Administrative Law Judge Bruce C. Levine issued a 75-page decision clearing the Wayzata, Minn.-based company of a complaint filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in August 1999. The commission had accused Cargill of offering grain contracts, called premium offer contracts, that were structured in violation of federal law. The commission alleged they were a variety of options contract that were neither traded on a regulated commodity exchange nor sold by an options merchant registered with the commission, making them illegal. The contracts were developed by Cargill to help farmers and the grain processor guard against the risk of violent price swings.