NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

NON-MEMBER:

Mayur Sharma

NYMEX RULES:

539. Prearranged, Pre-Negotiated and Noncompetitive Trades Prohibited (In Part)

539.A. General Prohibition

No person shall prearrange or pre-negotiate any purchase or sale or noncompetitively execute any transaction.

FINDINGS:

On February 10, 2024, the Chief Regulatory Officer of CME Group’s Market Regulation Department issued a charge against Mayur Sharma for violating Rule 539.A., based on allegations that from June 15, 2022, though July 26, 2022, Sharma prearranged or pre-negotiated any purchase or sale or noncompetitively executed transactions in Crude Oil and Natural Gas options on futures markets opposite another trader. The first noncompetitive trade between Sharma and the other trader coincided with Sharma’s first date of trading CME Group products.

On June 4, 2024, a Hearing Panel Chair of the NYMEX Business Conduct Committee (“BCC”) first determined that Sharma, having failed to submit a written answer to the charge issued against him, was deemed to have admitted the charge. Sharma therefore waived his right to a hearing on the merits of the charge. Pursuant to Rule 408.F., a BCC Panel then found Sharma guilty of committing the admitted charge and held a penalty hearing thereafter.

PENALTY:

Based on the record and the Panel’s findings and conclusions, the Panel ordered Sharma to pay a fine in the amount of $60,000 and serve a one-year suspension from direct 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. The suspension shall begin on June 24, 2024, and continue for one year from the date that payment of the fine is received in full.