The associated person of an introducing broker agreed to settle CFTC and CME charges (see here and here, respectively) for fraudulent solicitation, unauthorized trading, and violating financial market position limits in live cattle futures contracts.
According to the CFTC, Nathan Harris, an associated person of Kooima & Kaemingk Commodities, Inc.:
- misrepresented futures trading and made material omissions to clients in order to open a significant number of investment accounts on their behalf;
- engaged in speculative trading on behalf of clients without first obtaining authorization from customers or powers of attorneys; and
- exceeded the CME Group position limits for the August 2014 live cattle futures contract that were placed in a customer's account that Harris controlled.
The CFTC Division of Enforcement chose to reduce the civil monetary penalty, given Mr. Harris's cooperation throughout the investigation. To settle the charges, Mr. Harris agreed to pay a $1,250,000 fine to the CME and to have his registration restricted and be subject to various procedural and conduct conditions. A previous order involved the payment of restitution by Mr. Harris's employer.
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