General Trading Practices

Skills. Each Participant and Authorized User is responsible for understanding all factors that influence the markets in Contracts in order to maintain a high level of competence in its trading.

Rules. The Exchange will provide updates and amendments to these Rules and notices or advisories regarding the application and interpretation of these Rules. It is the obligation of each Participant and its Authorized User to ensure these documents are read and understood. It shall be prohibited for a Participant and its Authorized Users to violate any Rule or any agreement made with the Exchange, or to engage in fraud, dishonorable or dishonest conduct, or conduct which is inconsistent with just and equitable principles of trade, even where a Rule does not specifically reference "Participant" or "Authorized User."

Price Manipulation, Fictitious, Non-Competitive or Artificial Transactions. No Participant or Authorized User shall (1) effect or induce (or attempt to effect or induce) the purchase or sale of any Contract for the purpose of creating or inducing a false, misleading, or artificial appearance of activity in such Contract, or for the purpose of unduly or improperly influencing the market price of such Contract or for the purpose of making a price which does not reflect the true state of the market in such Contract, (2) effect or induce (or attempt to effect or induce) any conduct proscribed by CEA section 9(a)(2) in any Contract. No Participant or Authorized User shall arrange and execute simultaneous offsetting buy and sell Orders in a Contract with the intent to artificially affect reported revenues, trading volumes or prices.

Market Manipulation. No Participant or Authorized User shall (1) attempt to manipulate or manipulate the market in any Contract or (2) engage in any conduct proscribed by CEA section 9(a)(2). No Participant or Authorized User shall directly or indirectly participate in or have any interest in the profit of a manipulative operation or knowingly manage or finance a manipulative operation. This includes any pool, syndicate, or joint account, whether in corporate form or otherwise, organized or used intentionally for the purposes of unfairly influencing the market price of any Contract.

Market Disruption. Orders entered on the Exchange for the purpose of upsetting the equilibrium of the market in any Contract or creating a condition in which prices do not or will not reflect fair market values are prohibited, and any Participant or Authorized User who makes or assists in entering any such Order with knowledge of the purpose thereof or who, with such knowledge, in any way assists in carrying out any plan or scheme for the entering of any such Order, will be deemed to have engaged in an act detrimental to the Exchange.

Disruptive Trading Practices.

1. No Participant or Authorized User shall knowingly enter, or cause to be entered, bids, or offers into the Trading Platform other than in good faith for the purpose of executing bona fide transactions.

2. No Participant or Authorized User shall enter an Order or market message, or cause an Order or market message to be entered, with:

   1. The intent to cancel the Order before execution, or modify the Order to avoid execution;

   2. The intent to mislead other market participants;

   3. The intent to overload, delay, or disrupt the systems of the Exchange or other market participants;

   4. The intent to disrupt the orderly conduct of trading, or the fair execution of transactions; and/or

   5. Reckless disregard for the adverse impact of the Order or market message.

3. No Participant or Authorized User shall knowingly enter any bid or offer for the purpose of making a market price which does not reflect the true state of the market, or knowingly enter, or cause to be entered bids or offers other than in good faith for the purpose of executing bona fide transactions.

Prohibition on the Use or Attempted use of Manipulative and Deceptive Devices. No Participant, Authorized User or Clearing Member shall:

1. use or employ, or attempt to use or employ, any manipulative device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;

2. make, or attempt to make, any untrue or misleading statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made not untrue or misleading;

3. engage, or attempt to engage, in any act, practice, or course of business, which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any Person; or

4. deliver or cause to be delivered, or attempt to deliver or cause to be delivered a false or misleading or inaccurate report concerning market information or conditions that affect or tend to affect the price of any commodity in interstate commerce, knowing, or acting in reckless disregard of the fact that such report is false, misleading or inaccurate. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no violation of this subsection shall exist where the Person mistakenly transmits, in good faith, false or misleading or inaccurate information to a price reporting service.

Gratuities. Except with the prior written approval of the Chief Regulatory Officer, no Participant, Authorized User or Clearing Member shall, directly or indirectly, give or permit to be given anything of value, including gifts and gratuities, to an Official in an amount that exceeds the maximum value permitted by the Exchange and the Clearinghouse gifts and entertainment policy.

Rumors. No Participant, Authorized User or Clearing Member shall knowingly circulate, in any manner, rumors of a character which might affect market conditions in any Contract; provided, however, that this shall not prohibit discussion of unsubstantiated information, so long as its source and unverified nature are disclosed.

False Reports. No Participant, Authorized User or Clearing Member shall make any knowing misstatement of a material fact to the Exchange, the Clearinghouse, any Official, or any Board committee or panel.

Wash Sales. No Participant or Authorized User shall place or accept buy and sell Orders in the same Contract and expiration month, where known or reasonably should know that the purpose of the Orders is to avoid taking a bona fide market position exposed to market risk (transactions commonly known or referred to as wash sales). Buy and sell Orders by Participants or Authorized Users that are entered with the intent to negate market risk or price competition shall be deemed to violate the prohibition on wash trades. Additionally, no Participant or Authorized User shall knowingly execute or accommodate the execution of such Orders by direct or indirect means.

Financial Condition. No trading will be conducted for the purpose of misrepresenting the financial condition of a Participant or Authorized User.

Acts Detrimental to the Exchange or the Clearinghouse. No Participant, Authorized User or Clearing Member shall engage in any act that is detrimental to the Exchange or the Clearinghouse.

Misuse of the Exchange or the Clearinghouse. No Participant, Authorized User or Clearing Member shall permit the unauthorized use of the Exchange or the Clearinghouse, to assist any Person in obtaining unauthorized access to the Exchange or the Clearinghouse, to trade on the Exchange without an agreement and an established account with a Clearing Member, to alter the equipment associated with the Exchange or the Clearinghouse (except with the Exchange or the Clearinghouse written consent), to interfere with the operation of the Exchange or the Clearinghouse, to intercept or interfere with information provided thereby, or in any way to use the Exchange or the Clearinghouse in a manner contrary to the Rules.

Supervision. A Participant shall establish, maintain and administer reasonable supervisory procedures to monitor the compliance of Authorized Users and supervised persons with the Rules and any applicable provisions of the CEA and CFTC Rules and such Participant may be held accountable for the actions of such Authorized Users or supervised persons.

Disclosing Order Information. No Participant or Authorized User shall disclose an Order to buy or sell, except to a designated Exchange Official or the CFTC or as necessary to efficiently execute the Order nor shall any Participant solicit or induce another Participant or Authorized User to disclose Order information. No Person shall take action or direct another to take action based on non-public Order information, however acquired. The mere statement of opinions or indications of the price at which a market may open or resume trading does not constitute a violation of this rule.