NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

FILE NO.:

CBOT 07-73112-BC
CBOT 08-00188-BC

MEMBER:

Joel Himel (HML)

CBOT RULE VIOLATIONS:

(Legacy) Regulation 350.05 TRADING PRACTICES

(a) No person shall purchase any futures contract, purchase any call option or sell any put option for his own account, or for any account in which he has an interest or for an account over which he has discretionary trading authority, while in possession of any executable order of another person for the purchase of any futures contract, the purchase of any call option or the sale of any put option in the same product.

(b) No person shall sell any futures contract, sell any call option or purchase any put option for his own account, or for any account in which he has an interest, or for an account over which he has discretionary trading authority, while in possession of any executable order of another person for the sale of any futures contract, the sale of any call option or the purchase of any put option in the same product.

Rule 529. WITHHOLDING ORDERS PROHIBITED

A Member (as defined in Rule 400), or any person entering orders on the Globex platform, shall not withhold or withdraw from the market any order, or any part of an order, for the benefit of any person other than the person placing the order.

Rule 539. PREARRANGED, PRE-NEGOTIATED AND NONCOMPETITIVE TRADES PROHIBITED (in part)

A. No person shall prearrange or pre-negotiate any purchase or sale or noncompetitively execute any transaction, except in accordance with Sections B. (Block Trades) and C. (Globex Trades in Interest Rate, Ethanol & Dow Options).

FINDINGS:

Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which Joel Himel (“Himel”) neither admitted nor denied the findings and conclusions herein, on December 13, 2011 a Panel of the CBOT Business Conduct Committee (the “Panel”) made the following findings:

On twelve occasions from April 16, 2007 through October 31, 2007, Himel executed Soybean futures trades over the e-cbot electronic trading platform for his personal account while in possession of executable customer orders. In so doing, Himel violated legacy CBOT Regulations 350.05(a) and 350.05(b) (Trading Practices).

Further, the Panel found that on eight occasions between October and December 2008 Himel entered into noncompetitive, prearranged trades in Soybean futures contracts while in possession of executable customer orders that he withheld from the marketplace for the benefit of other traders. In so doing, Himel violated CBOT Rule 539.A. (Prearranged, Pre-negotiated and Noncompetitive Trades Prohibited), and Rule 529. (Withholding Orders Prohibited).

PENALTY:

In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered Himel to (i) pay a fine of $20,000; (ii) serve a 40 business day suspension of his 1) membership privileges; 2) access to any CME Group Inc. trading floors; and 3) direct access to all electronic trading and clearing platforms owned or controlled by CME Group, including CME Globex; and (iii) never again handle customer orders in a floor broker capacity at any CME Group Inc. exchange. The suspension shall run from January 3, 2012, through and including February 29, 2012.
 

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 3, 2012