In 2007, a Goldman Sachs swaps trader leaned on his broker to make sure no trades were made shortly before 11 a.m. Eastern that would move a global interest-rate swaps benchmark he wanted to nudge down.

"Have your screen guy go to the bathroom. You don't need to move tens for the next 10 minutes," the trader instructed on a recorded phone call, referring to products that would affect the rate for 10-year maturities, according to a settlement between Goldman and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Wednesday.