On February 6, the National Futures Association (NFA) mandated that Lime Trading Corp. (Lime Trading), a futures commission merchant based in New York, N.Y., pay a fine of $100,000. The decision stemmed from a complaint issued by NFA’s Business Conduct Committee (BCC) and a subsequent settlement offer from Lime Trading. Although Lime Trading neither admitted nor denied the allegations, the complaint accused the firm of failing to submit required financial reports and notifications to NFA in a timely manner, potentially breaching NFA Financial Requirements Sections 1(e) and 16(e). Some of the specific offenses were that Lime Trading filed two separate FOCUS reports late and subsequently filed a daily segregation report a day late.

Additionally, Lime Trading was charged with a failure to supervise, potentially violating NFA Compliance Rule 2-9(a). Specifically, in the report, NFA states “Lime Trading’s failure to comply with its regulatory obligations and internal procedures along with the other conduct alleged above, demonstrate the firm’s lax approach to supervising its operations and employees and complying with its NFA and CFTC regulatory obligations.”

The BCC’s ruling concluded that Lime Trading indeed violated the aforementioned NFA regulations and ordered the firm to cease and desist from further violations.