CME Sanctions Traders in Separate Trading-Related Actions

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Business Conduct Committee ("BCC") fined and barred two traders for disruptive trading and wash trade rule violations.

The BCC ordered trader Markus Groebner to pay $50,000 for disruptive actions under CBOT Rule 575, which caused fluctuations in the publicly displayed Indicative Opening Price in the Wheat futures market by executing non-bona fide transactions.

In a separate action, the BCC ordered trader Howard Norman Stark to pay $90,000 for numerous Exchange trading rule violations based on attempting to avoid: (i) taking a bona fide market position exposed to market risk and (ii) maintenance margin requirements. The BCC found that Mr. Stark:

  • failed to submit trading cards for keypunching on the original trade date;
  • prearranged and noncompetitively executed trades;
  • increased the quantity of a trade without competitively executing the additional quantity in the market;
  • reported an execution to his customer that did not occur as a result of open outcry; and
  • permitted another to use his unique user ID to access the Globex electronic trading platform.

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