NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

MEMBER:

ADM Investor Services, Inc.

COMEX RULE VIOLATION:

Rule 432. General Offenses (in part)

It shall be an offense:

W. for any party to fail to diligently supervise its employees and agents in the conduct of their business relating to the Exchange.

FINDINGS:

Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which ADM Investor Services, Inc. (“ADMIS”) neither admitted nor denied the rule violation or factual findings upon which the penalty is based, on September 19, 2023, a Panel of the Commodity Exchange Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that from at least December 2016 through December 2017, ADMIS failed to diligently supervise its own employees and agents in their handling of accounts carried by ADMIS. Specifically, ADMIS employees and agents failed to detect numerous instances wherein an ADMIS broker successfully requested account changes and trade transfers between customer accounts in Copper futures markets, often without the knowledge or permission of the account owner. The broker requested these changes to transfer losing trades from a customer’s personal account to a corporate account the customer shared ownership of and the broker controlled. Additionally, the Panel found that ADMIS failed to timely implement policies and procedures to effectively monitor, detect, and assess account change and transfer requests. The Panel therefore concluded that ADMIS violated COMEX Rule 432.W.

PENALTY:

In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered ADMIS to pay a $450,000 fine in connection with this case and companion cases CME and CBOT 20-1401-BC ($100,000 of which is allocated to COMEX).