Key Insights
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CME Group sanctioned Kin Chung Lam for executing multiple wash trades in aluminum futures and calendar spreads on December 1 and 4, 2023.
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Lam violated COMEX Rule 534 by structuring trades that avoided genuine market risk through self-matching orders within the same trading account.
CHICAGO, May 7 (MarketsXplora) – CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, has sanctioned trader Kin Chung Lam for executing multiple wash trades in aluminum futures contracts, according to a disciplinary notice published on Wednesday.
The action, finalized on May 7, stems from trades conducted on December 1 and December 4, 2023. A Panel of the COMEX Business Conduct Committee found that Lam had engaged in a pattern of trading that resulted in self-matching orders, violating market rules.
According to the disciplinary panel, Lam entered a spread order and then placed a passive outright order that aligned with one leg of the spread. He subsequently entered an aggressive outright order for the other contract month involved in the spread, creating implied self-matched trades—all executed within the same trading account.
The panel concluded that Lam either knew or reasonably should have known the trades were structured to avoid assuming a bona fide market position exposed to market risk, a violation of COMEX Rule 534.
The enforcement followed a settlement agreement in which Lam neither admitted nor denied the rule violations or the underlying findings. Under the terms of the settlement, he was fined $50,000 and handed a 15-business-day suspension.
The suspension bars Lam from accessing any CME Group-owned or controlled trading floors and prohibits both direct and indirect access to any designated contract market, derivatives clearing organization, or swap execution facility under CME Group’s purview. The suspension remains in effect through the trade date of May 30, 2025.