NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

NON-MEMBER:

Attila Fekecs

NYMEX RULE: 534. Wash Trades Prohibited

No person shall place or accept buy and sell orders in the same product and expiration month, and, for a put or call option, the same strike price, where the person knows or reasonably should know that the purpose of the orders is to avoid taking a bona fide market position exposed to market risk (transactions commonly known or referred to as wash sales). Buy and sell orders for different accounts with common beneficial ownership that are entered with the intent to negate market risk or price competition shall also be deemed to violate the prohibition on wash trades. Additionally, no person shall knowingly execute or accommodate the execution of such orders by direct or indirect means.

FINDINGS:

On February 29, 2024, the Chief Regulatory Officer of CME Group’s Market Regulation Department issued a charge against Fekecs for violating Rule 534, based on allegations that from June 16, 2022, through June 22, 2022, Fekecs knowingly placed or accepted buy and sell orders in August and September 2022 Crude Oil options on futures markets, where he knew or reasonably should have known that the purpose of the orders was to avoid taking a bona fide market position exposed to market risk. Specifically, on multiple occasions Fekecs placed orders on opposite sides of the Crude oil options markets for the same strike price, though at different trade prices, at or near the best bid and offer. He subsequently modified his bids (offers) until he traded opposite his resting offers (bids).

On June 12, 2024, a Hearing Panel Chair of the NYMEX Business Conduct Committee (“BCC”) first determined that Fekecs, having failed to submit a written answer to the charge issued against him, was deemed to have admitted the charge. Fekecs therefore waived his right to a hearing on the merits of the charge. Pursuant to Rule 408.F., a BCC Panel then found Fekecs 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 Fekecs to pay a $50,000 fine and serve a five-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 July 1, 2024 and continue for five years from the date that payment of the fine is received in full.