Aug 29 (Reuters) -

Nasdaq has agreed to pay $22 million to settle U.S.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charges that its

former energy contract market failed to disclose details of

perks offered to certain traders.

Nasdaq Futures Inc, which operated a market for energy

commodity futures contracts from July 2015-2018, made false and

misleading statements to the CFTC regarding an incentive

program, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday.

Under the program, market makers and certain customers

received payments based on the total volume of contracts they

traded. This aspect was never disclosed to the agency, as

required by U.S. law and regulation, CFTC said.

A spokesperson for Nasdaq Inc ( NDAQ ), which sold the

futures exchange business in November 2019, said the firm is

pleased to have resolved the matter with the CFTC.

The firm withheld accurate information from market

participants in a "significant violation" of its obligations and

legal requirements that apply to exchanges designated by the

agency, CFTC enforcement director Ian McGinley said in a

statement.

Republican Commissioner Caroline Pham dissented in the

enforcement action, saying the settlement is "about beating a

dead market" over incentive programs that are commonplace in

financial markets.