CME Group Suspends Saudi Trader for ‘Money-Pass’ Transactions
CME Group has suspended a Saudi-based trader for a year later than finding he executed prearranged trades in Brent crude futures between his personal and employer accounts to transfer money.
In a disciplinary notice posted by its New York Mercantile platform (NYMEX) unit, CME said Mohamed Abdelaziz Ali Abdelaziz arranged a series of offsetting transactions in April 2024 in the April and May 2025 Brent Crude Oil Last Day Financial futures. The trades were made between his own account and that of his employer, effectively moving equity into his personal account.
The NYMEX Business Conduct Committee found that Abdelaziz also used an operator ID other than his own to enter the trades — a separate breach of the platform’s audit-trail rules.
“From April 17, 2024, through April 19, 2024, Abdelaziz prearranged multiple round-turn transactions … for the purpose of transferring equity to his personal account,” the panel said in the notice. He was found in violation of NYMEX Rules 432.G and 576, which prohibit money-passing to use unique operator IDs for every order.
Under a settlement in which Abdelaziz neither admitted nor denied the findings, he agreed to pay a $40,000 fine and $2,620 in restitution. His one-year suspension from CME’s markets, derivatives clearing organizations, and swap execution facilities controlled by CME Group — takes effect from Oct. 16, 2025, and will run for a year later than his financial penalties are paid in full.
“Money-Pass” Transactions
The case highlights CME’s ongoing campaign against “money-pass” transactions — arrangements in which a trader executes offsetting orders between related accounts to transfer profits or mask losses. Such trades create the illusion of market activity without genuine risk-taking and are prohibited across CME’s platforms.
Rule 432.G, one of NYMEX’s foundational conduct rules, explicitly forbids prearranged or noncompetitive trades designed to shift funds between accounts. The companion Rule 576 requires each market participant to use a distinct operator ID on , allowing regulators to trace every order to an individual or automated system.
A Familiar Pattern
Disciplinary actions of this kind are not new. CME has sanctioned several traders and firms over the past decade for similar “round-turn” activity — quick back-to-back trades between connected accounts that generate no . Past penalties have typically ranged between $25,000 and $125,000, often with suspensions or trading bans.
The Last Day Financial futures contract involved in Abdelaziz’s case is a cash-settled product linked to the ICE Brent Index. It serves as a major benchmark for traders managing exposure to North Sea crude and related energy products. Because the contract is financially settled, it can be used to move cash rapidly without the complications of physical delivery — one reason it frequently appears in compliance cases.
CME’s Market Regulation department investigates potential rule breaches across its four major platforms — CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX — and refers cases to the Business Conduct Committee for judgment. The panel can impose fines, restitution, suspensions, or permanent bans.
Enforcement activity has risen alongside a global tightening of trading supervision, as platforms use algorithmic surveillance tools to detect prearranged trades, wash trades, and spoofing. CME’s public database of disciplinary actions lists dozens of similar cases every year.
While Abdelaziz’s suspension applies only to CME-owned venues, most global clearing and brokerage firms mirror such bans internally, effectively barring sanctioned traders from active markets during the suspension period.
