NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

NON-MEMBER:

Peter Georgantones

CBOT RULE VIOLATIONS:

Rule 432 General Offenses

It shall be an offense:

B.1. to engage, or attempt to engage, in fraud or bad faith;

B.2. to engage in conduct or proceedings inconsistent with just and equitable principles of trade;

L.1. to fail to appear before the Board, Exchange staff or any investigative or hearing committee at a duly convened hearing, scheduled staff interview or in connection with any investigation

T. to engage in dishonorable or uncommercial conduct.

FINDINGS:

Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which Peter Georgantones neither admitted nor denied the rule violations upon which the penalty is based, on May 18, 2021, a Panel of the Chicago Board of Trade (“CBOT”) Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that on multiple occasions between November 21, 2012, and August 1, 2019, Georgantones, a broker, successfully requested account changes for trades he executed for customers in the Kansas City Hard Red Winter Wheat, Chicago Soft Red Winter Wheat, Soybean, and Corn futures markets wherein certain accounts that he managed were the recipients of profitable trades that he initially executed in other accounts he managed. Georgantones executed the account changes without the knowledge or permission of the account owners. As a result, several accounts Georgantones managed experienced $197,938.73 in losses. The Panel further found that Georgantones failed to appear for a scheduled staff interview in connection with the investigation.

The Panel concluded that Georgantones thereby violated CBOT Rules 432.B.1., 432.B.2., 432.L.1., and 432.T.

PENALTY:

In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered Georgantones to pay a fine of $150,000 in connection with this case and companion case CME 19-1183-BC ($100,000 of which is allocated to CBOT). The Panel also permanently barred Georgantones from access to any trading floor owned or controlled by CME Group and from direct and indirect access to any designated contract market, derivatives clearing organization or swap execution facility owned or controlled by CME Group, and from having any business affiliation with, being employed by or having a financial or beneficial interest in a member or broker association, beginning on the effective date below. Additionally, the Panel ordered Georgantones and his employer at the time of the cited conduct to jointly and severally pay restitution of $197,938.73 to the account owners who experienced losses as a result of the account change activity.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

May 20, 2021