• NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

      • #
      • CBOT 09-03380-BC
      • Effective Date
      • 01 June 2011
    • FILE NO.:

      CBOT 09-03380-BC

       

      MEMBER:

      ERNEST LARSON (ZPR)

       

      CBOT RULE VIOLATIONS:

      432. GENERAL OFFENSES

      It shall be an offense:

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

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      Q. to commit an act which is detrimental to the interest or welfare of the Exchange or to engage in any conduct which tends to impair the dignity or good name of the Exchange;

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      T. to engage in dishonorable or uncommercial conduct;

      576. IDENTIFICATION OF GLOBEX TERMINAL OPERATORS

      Each Globex terminal operator shall be identified to the Exchange, in the manner prescribed by the Exchange, and shall be subject to Exchange rules. If user IDs are required to be registered with the Exchange, it is the duty of the clearing member to ensure that registration is current and accurate at all times. Each individual must use a unique user ID to access Globex. In no event may a person enter an order or permit the entry of an order by an individual using a user ID other than the individual’s own unique user ID.

      511. QUALIFIED TRADERS AND BROKERS

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      A member shall place all trades for his own account or any account which he controls, on the books of his qualifying clearing member unless written authorization to the contrary from said clearing member has been filed with the Shareholder Relations and Membership Services Department.

       

      FINDINGS:

      Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which Ernest Larson neither admitted nor denied the rule violations upon which the penalty is based, on May 12, 2011 a Panel of the CBOT Business Conduct Committee found that Larson placed buy and sell orders on the Globex platform using a user ID other than his own at various times from August 2008 through March 2009. In so doing, Larson failed to place his trades through his qualifying clearing member in absence of written authorization to the contrary. The Panel found Larson to have violated CBOT Rules 511 and 576.

      Further, the Panel found that Larson distributed access to a member firm’s privately held bridge lines and engaged in the practice of monitoring that member firm’s privately held communication devices without their express or implied consent or knowledge while trading personal accounts for which he had discretionary trading authority over at various times from August 2008 through March 2009. The Panel found that in so doing Larson violated CBOT Rules 432.B, 432.T, and 432.Q.

       

      PENALTY:

      In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered Larson to pay a fine of $15,000 and serve a 6 month calendar day suspension of his 1) membership privileges; 2) access to all CME Group Inc. trading floors; and 3) direct access to all CME Group Inc. electronic trading and clearing platforms, beginning June 1, 2011 and continuing through November 30, 2011, inclusive.

       

      EFFECTIVE DATE:

      June 1, 2011