ICE Futures U.S. has published a disciplinary notice against OTC Europe LLP.
On February 21, 2024, a subcommittee of the Exchange’s Business Conduct Committee (BCC) determined that in numerous instances between January 2022 and April 2022 (“Relevant Period”), OTC Europe may have violated the following Exchange Rules for certain block trades:
- 4.07(c) by misreporting execution time and submitting trades beyond the 15- minute reporting window;
- 4.07(a)(ii)(A) by failing to comply with private negotiation requirements;
- legacy 6.08(b)(i) by failing to comply with order ticket requirements; and
- 6.07(a)(iii) by failing to comply with general recordkeeping requirements.
The BCC further determined that, during the Relevant Period, OTC Europe may have additionally violated Rule 4.01(a) by failing to diligently supervise the block trade activities of its employees and Rule 4.01(b) by failing to establish, administer, and enforce supervisory systems, policies and procedures, which are reasonably designed to achieve compliance with Exchange Rules.
In accordance with the terms of settlement, in which OTC Europe neither admitted nor denied the alleged rule violations, OTC Europe agreed to pay a monetary penalty of $120,000.
