Irvine, California resident Jie “Elaine” Yu has been ordered to pay a $300,000 penalty and faces trading bans for engaging in a fictitious sales scheme on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced Friday.
The CFTC’s order, filed and settled simultaneously, details how Yu executed 33 non-competitive, fictitious sales of 410 futures contracts in October and November of 2021. Investigators found Yu transferred at least $159,000 to her cousin, identified only as “Trader A” and located in Shanghai, China, through the scheme.
According to the order, Yu and Trader A colluded, coordinating their trades in real-time via communication regarding bids and offers. Yu intentionally placed orders during periods of low trading volume specifically to match Trader A’s opposing orders on the CME’s Globex platform. The CFTC alleges this activity was undertaken with no genuine price competition or market risk, solely to funnel funds to Trader A’s account.
The conduct violated the fictitious sales provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. Beyond the $300,000 civil monetary penalty, Yu is prohibited from engaging in further violations of the CEA and CFTC regulations. She also faces a six-month ban from trading and registering with the CFTC.
The CFTC acknowledged the assistance of the CME Group in the investigation. The case was led by CFTC staff members Jennifer Blakley, Dmitriy Vilenskiy, Chrystal Gonnella, Lauren E. Bennett, A. Daniel Ullman II, and Paul G. Hayeck.
Source: CFTC.gov
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