FILE NO.:
CME 17-0724-BC
MEMBER:
Joseph H. Gibbons
CME RULE VIOLATIONS:
Rule 575 (“Disruptive Practices Prohibited”)
All orders must be entered for the purpose of executing bona fide transactions. Additionally, all non-actionable messages must be entered in good faith for legitimate purposes.
A. No person shall enter or cause to be entered an order with the intent, at the time of order entry, to cancel the order before execution or to modify the order to avoid execution.
FINDINGS:
Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which Joseph H. Gibbons (“Gibbons”) neither admitted nor denied the rule violation upon which the penalty is based, on August 15, 2018, a Panel of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”) Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that on one or more occasions between December 2016 and April 2017, Gibbons entered orders for various E-Mini S&P 500 futures and E-Mini NASDAQ 100 futures contracts on the Globex electronic trading platform during the pre-opening period that were not entered in good faith for the purpose of executing bona fide transactions. The entry and cancellation of these orders caused fluctuations in the publicly displayed Indicative Opening Price. The Panel thus concluded that Gibbons violated CME Rule 575.A.
PENALTY:
In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered Gibbons to pay a fine in the amount of $15,000, and suspended his access to all CME Group trading floors and direct and indirect access to all electronic trading and clearing platforms owned or controlled by CME Group Inc. for 20 business days. The suspension shall run from August 17, 2018, through September 14, 2018, inclusively.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
August 17, 2018