“The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is so cash-starved that the agency is being forced to delay cases, shelve certain probes and decided not to file charges against two former traders over J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s “London whale” trading mess, a top official said.

“In an interview, David Meister, who stepped down this week as the CFTC’s enforcement chief, said the agency is ‘absolutely undersized’ for the sprawling futures and options markets it must police.

“‘We will do everything we can…but we have limited staff and limited resources,’ Mr. Meister said. ‘Ultimately, it comes down to the math.’

“The 50-year-old former prosecutor’s warning came Wednesday, his last day at the CFTC after a near-three-year enforcement stint. Since he joined the CFTC in January 2011, the once-obscure agency has reinvented itself to become an apparent force to be reckoned with.”

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