One month ago, days after explicit Zero Hedge step-by-step guide [7]of precisely how gold manipulation takes place, the CME cracked down [8]on the evil Indian market manipulating mastermind Nasil Salim (and his ostensibly less evil sidekick) Heet Khara, for spoofing and otherwise rigging the gold market for months on end. His punishment: a 60 day denial of access to the CME. A week late, a seven person crack CFTC team finally figured out how to read the charts posted on ZH 10 days earlier, and charged the two with illegal market spoofing [9].
Well, it is time for another sacrificial gold market manipulation crackdown (the same gold market, mind you, which CFTC commissioner and HFT lobby sellout extraordinaire Bart Chilton said was completely unrigged). Only it's not Barcalys, JPM, Virtu, Citadel, the NY Fed, the Bank of England, or even the PBOC - i.e., the real market manipulators - who is the receiving end of the CME's special breed of "justice." It is another "trade from his parents' home" Indian.
To wit:
NON-MEMBER: HIMANSHU KALRA
EXCHANGE RULES: Rule 432. General Offenses (in part)
It shall be an offense:
B.2. to engage in conduct or proceedings inconsistent with just and equitable principles of trade;
Q. to commit an act which is detrimental to the interest or welfare of the Exchange or to engage in any conduct which tends to impair the dignity or good name of the Exchange;
T. to engage in dishonorable or uncommercial conduct.
FINDINGS:
Pursuant to an offer of settlement that Himanshu Kalra (“Kalra”) presented at a hearing on May 28, 2015, in which Kalra neither admitted nor denied the factual allegations or rule violations upon which the penalty is based, a Panel of the COMEX Business Conduct Committee (“Panel”) found that Kalra consented to the jurisdiction of the Exchange for the time period of March 1, 2012 through August 19, 2012 and that, for the time period of August 20, 2012 through October 31, 2012, it had jurisdiction over Kalra pursuant to Exchange Rules 400 and 418. The Panel further found that on multiple trade dates during the time period of March 1, 2012 through October 31, 2012, Kalra engaged in a pattern of activity in which he repeatedly entered orders or layered multiple orders for Gold and Silver futures contracts without the intent to trade. Specifically, Kalra entered these orders or layered multiple orders to encourage market participants to trade opposite his smaller orders that were resting on the opposite side of the book. After receiving a fill on his smaller orders, Kalra would then cancel the resting order or layered multiple orders that he had entered on the opposite side of the order book.
The Panel concluded that Kalra violated Exchange Rules 432.B.2., 432.Q., and 432.T.
What is Kalra's penalty?
In accordance with the settlement offer, the Panel ordered Kalra to pay a fine to the Exchange in the amount of $35,000 and to serve a 30 business day suspension of all membership privileges and direct or indirect access to any CME Group Inc. trading floor or electronic trading or clearing platform owned or operated by CME Group Inc., including CME Globex. The suspension shall run from June 1, 2015 through and including July 13, 2015.
To summarize:
- the only people the CME will throw under a bus for manipulating gold are "trade from their parents basement" Indians
- the penalty for manipulating gold is a 30 day suspension, and a $35,000 fine. Manipulate the S&P500 however, and don't pass go but go straight to jail for life, sorry Navinder Sarao (whose origin is not Kentucky).
And with that we sit back and await for the CME to unveil the next Indian gold spoofing and market manipulating mastermind, an appropriately and timely distraction just so Benoit Gilson [10]can continue to do what he does best without too much attention.
