NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION

FILE NO.:

NYMEX 10-7545-BC

MEMBER:

MARY ELLEN VIOLA

NYMEX RULE VIOLATION:

532. Disclosing Orders Prohibited

No person shall disclose another person's order to buy or sell except to a designated Exchange official or the CFTC, and no person shall solicit or induce another person to disclose order information. An order for pit execution is not considered public until it has been bid or offered by open outcry. No person shall take action or direct another to take action based on non-public order information, however acquired. The mere statement of opinions or indications of the price at which a market may open or resume trading does not constitute a violation of this rule.
 

539. Prearranged, Pre-negotiated and Noncompetitive Trades Prohibited

539.A. General Prohibition
No person shall prearrange or pre-negotiate any purchase or sale or noncompetitively execute any transaction …

432. General Offenses
It shall be an offense:
B. to engage in fraud, bad faith, or in conduct or proceedings inconsistent with just and equitable principles of trade.

FINDINGS:

Pursuant to an offer of settlement Mary Ellen Viola (“Viola”) presented at a hearing on March 20, 2013, in which Viola neither admitted nor denied the rule violation upon which the penalty is based, a Panel of the NYMEX Business Conduct Committee (“BCC”) found that on four occasions in February 2009, Viola disclosed customer orders before these orders had been bid or offered by open outcry and participated in the execution of noncompetitive trades that she prearranged with another trader via Instant Messages (“IMs”).

The Panel found that, as a result, Viola violated Exchange Rules 532 (Disclosing Orders Prohibited), 539.A. (Prearranged Trades) and 432.B. (Just and Equitable Principles of Trade).

PENALTY:

In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered Viola to pay a fine to the Exchange in the amount of $25,000. The Panel also suspended Viola from all direct or indirect access to any trading floor or electronic trading or clearing platform owned or operated by CME Group Inc., including Globex, for a period of 5 business days. The suspension will run from March 22, 2013 through March 28, 2013.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

March 22, 2013