International derivatives marketplace CME Group has posted notices of disciplinary action against two hedge fund traders – Bernie Yu and Jeffrey Liu.

Pursuant to an offer of settlement in which Bernie Yu and Jeffrey Liu neither admitted nor denied the rule violations or factual findings upon which the penalty is based, a Panel of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Business Conduct Committee found that on numerous occasions from November 3, 2023, to December 15, 2023, Yu and Liu created and executed trades in various covered User Defined Spreads (“UDS”) related to E-mini S&P 500 options and futures contracts on the Globex electronic trading platform and entered order quantities combined with delta levels that resulted in advantageous over-allocations or under-allocations of futures contracts associated with the covered instrument.

As a result of the activity, Yu and Liu realized a profit of $247,048.12 Further, the Panel found that Yu entered orders using the operator ID assigned to Liu.

The Panel concluded that as a result of the foregoing, Yu amd Liu violated CME Rules 575.D and 576.

In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel: ordered Yu to pay a $55,000 fine, whereas Liu must pay a fine of $45,000. Yu and Liu will also have to jointly and severally pay disgorgement in the amount of $247,048.12.

The panel suspended Yu from access to any trading floor owned or controlled by CME Group and from direct and indirect access to any designated contract market, derivatives clearing organization, or swap execution facility owned or controlled by CME Group Inc. for one-month. The suspension will run through trade date September 28, 2026, inclusive.

CME suspended Liu from access to any trading floor owned or controlled by CME Group and from direct and indirect access to any designated contract market, derivatives clearing organization, or swap execution facility owned or controlled by CME Group Inc. for one-month. The suspension will run through trade date October 29, 2026, inclusive.