TD Securities (USA) LLC agreed to a $4.71 million victim-compensation settlement tied to alleged “spoofing” and “layering” in the U.S. Treasury market—a cornerstone of global finance where prices influence everything from mortgage rates to corporate borrowing costs. Spoofing and layering involve placing orders a trader does not intend to execute (often on one side of the market) to create a misleading picture of supply and demand, then trading on the other side to benefit from the price move before canceling the deceptive orders. According to the deferred prosecution agreement, the conduct occurred in hundreds of episodes involving specific Treasury notes and bonds (identified by CUSIPs) between April 3, 2018, and May 14, 2019, potentially harming investors who traded during that window. The lawsuit/claims process exists because the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division is administering compensation for victims as part of TD Securities’ resolution of criminal charges, rather than through a traditional civil trial. TD admitted the manipulation and, alongside other monetary components (including a criminal penalty and forfeiture, with related SEC disgorgement crediting), set aside $4,707,332 to be distributed pro rata based on each claimant’s “recognized loss,” net of any other recoveries. Its significance is twofold: it channels money directly to affected market participants—including individuals, institutions, and even non-U.S. traders—while reinforcing that misconduct in even the most liquid, systemically important bond market can trigger coordinated criminal and regulatory consequences. More broadly, this matter fits a wider enforcement trend targeting order-book manipulation across asset classes, including prior high-profile spoofing cases in precious metals, futures, and rates products, reflecting regulators’ focus on market integrity and confidence. In industry context, spoofing is explicitly prohibited under U.S. commodities law (commonly enforced by the CFTC and DOJ), and Treasury-market oversight increasingly involves coordinated scrutiny by the DOJ, SEC, and other regulators given the market’s role as a benchmark for risk-free rates and a key venue for primary dealers. The claims framework—requiring transaction documentation and distributing funds via a court/administrator-run process—also mirrors how modern financial-market resolutions aim to compensate dispersed victims without forcing each trader to litigate individually.