Chicago Board of Trade fines StoneX Financial
StoneX Financial Inc, formerly known as INTL FCStone Financial Inc, was assessed with a fine of $20,000 as a part of a settlement with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), a designated contract maker for CME Group.
A Panel of the CBOT Business Conduct Committee found that on October 29, 2019, and October 30, 2019, StoneX, acting in its capacity as a clearing firm, transferred positions between customer accounts with different beneficial ownership and without appropriate Exchange approval. The transfers were not made to reconcile an error, omission or outtrade.
The Panel concluded that StoneX thereby violated CBOT Rule 853.A.1.
The relevant Rule 853.A (Transfers of Trades) states:
1. Subject to the limitations of Rule 854, existing trades may be transferred either on the books of a clearing member or from one clearing member to another clearing member provided:
- The transfer results in the transfer of a trade(s) from one account to another account with identical beneficial ownership; or
- An error has been made in the clearing of a trade(s) and the error is corrected via transfer within three Business Days after the date on which the error occurred; or
- The transfer trade is made to reconcile an error, omission or outtrade in accordance with the requirements of Rule 770.
A transfer may be approved by the President of the Clearing House or the Chief Compliance Officer of the Clearing House, or their respective designees, in circumstances where it is determined that a transfer trade is the most appropriate means to remedy an error that results from the good faith acts or omissions of any party and the clearing member(s) consent to such transfer, provided that such approval does not result in an impermissible transfer for offset pursuant to the provisions of Rule 854.B.
Any request for approval pursuant to this paragraph requires the clearing member(s) to fully document the circumstances of the error and provide that documentation to the Clearing House.
In accepting the offer of settlement, the Panel considered that StoneX self-reported the violative transfers to the Exchange.