NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

MEMBER:

Global Companies LLC

NYMEX RULE VIOLATION:

EXCHANGE RULE 538. EXCHANGE FOR RELATED POSITIONS

The following transactions shall be permitted by arrangement between parties in accordance with the requirements of this rule: Exchange for Physical (“EFP”) – A privately negotiated and simultaneous exchange of an Exchange futures position for a corresponding cash position. Exchange for Risk (“EFR”) – A privately negotiated and simultaneous exchange of an Exchange futures position for a corresponding OTC swap or other OTC instrument. Exchange of Options for Options (“EOO”) – A privately negotiated and simultaneous exchange of an Exchange option position for a corresponding OTC option position or other OTC instrument with similar characteristics. For purposes of this rule, an EFP, EFR or EOO shall be referred to as an Exchange for Related Position (“EFRP”).

C. Related Position

The related position component of an EFRP must be the cash commodity underlying the Exchange contract or a by-product, a related product or an OTC derivative of such commodity underlying the Exchange contract or a by-product, a related product or an OTC derivative instrument of such commodity that has reasonable degree of price correlation to the commodity underlying the Exchange contract. The related position component of an EFRP may not be a futures contract or an option on a futures contract. Each EFRP requires a bona fide transfer of ownership of the underlying asset between the parties or a bona fide, legally binding contract between the parties consistent with relevant market conventions for the particular related position transaction.

The execution of an EFRP transaction may not be contingent upon the execution of another EFRP or related position transaction between the parties where the transaction result in the offset of the related position without the incurrence of market risk that is material in the context of the related position transactions.

FINDINGS:

Pursuant to an offer of settlement Global Companies LLC (“Global”) presented at a hearing on September 6, 2018, in which Global neither admitted nor denied the findings or the rule violation upon which the penalty is based, a Panel of the NYMEX Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that, on February 1, 2018, Global simultaneously entered into two Exchange for Physical (“EFP”) transactions with its counterparty. In the first transaction, Global bought one February 2018 NY Harbor ULSD (“FEB18 HO”) futures contract. In the second, Global sold one March 2018 NY Harbor ULSD (“MAR18 HO”) futures contract to the same counterparty, at the same price. The EFP transactions were non-bona fide as they were simultaneously negotiated and contingent upon each other.

The Panel found that, as a result, Global violated Exchange Rule 538.C (“Exchange for Related Positions – Related Position”).

PENALTY:

In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered Global to pay a fine to the Exchange in the amount of $15,000.