International derivatives marketplace CME Group has imposed a fine of $75,000 on Bright Point Capital Pte. Ltd for alleged violations of NYMEX rules.

Pursuant to an offer of settlement, in which Bright Point Capital Pte. Ltd. neither admitted nor denied the Rule violations or factual findings upon which the penalty is based, a Panel of the NYMEX Business Conduct Committee found that on January 31, 2023, a Bright Point employee placed buy and sell orders in the same product and expiration month in the Methanol and NGL futures markets between two trading accounts with common beneficial ownership in order to transfer positions between the two accounts.

The Bright Point employee knew or reasonably should have known that the purpose of the orders was to avoid taking a bona fide market position exposed to market risk.

Additionally, the Panel found that during this timeframe Bright Point failed to maintain complete written or electronic records for these wash block trades, including any electronic timestamp reflecting the date and time each order was received.

Finally, during this timeframe Bright Point failed to diligently supervise its employees with sufficient compliance training or educational materials regarding the reporting and execution of block trades and wash trades to ensure compliance with NYMEX rules regarding block trades and wash trades.

The Panel found that as a result of the foregoing, Bright Point violated NYMEX Rules 534, 536.E., and 432.W.