The Chicago Board of Trade has fined Hertshten GroupLimited, a proprietary trading firm, following disruptive activity duringpre-open trading periods. The firm “neither admitted nor denied” the ruleviolations as part of a settlement. Under the agreement, Hertshten Group mustpay a $95,000 fine, with $55,000 allocated to CBOT.CME Penalizes Institutional Prop Trading FirmsThe case follows a recent enforcement action by CME Groupagainst an institutional prop firm. In that case, CME fined TaniusTechnology $150,000 after finding the firm entered oversized Treasury futuresorders that it could not immediately cover. Between 2020 and 2022, Tanius stacked maximum-quantity orders during roll periods,exploiting pro-rata matching to gain larger fills. Institutional prop firmslike Hertshten Group and Tanius trade their own capital and are subject to CMEmarket conduct rules, unlike retail-focused platforms such as FTMO orFundedNext. Both cases fall under the oversight of CME Group, thoughHertshten was disciplined specifically by the CBOT committee while Tanius washandled at the broader CME Group level.Automated Circuit Breakers Trigger CBOT ActionCBOT’s Business Conduct Committee found that Hertshten Groupand analysts at its India-based subsidiary engaged in repeated messagingactivity, described as “looping,” which affected opening prices in the 30 DayFederal Funds futures market. The activity triggered automated circuit breakersand required intervention from CME Group’s Global Command Center.The Committee said the firm failed to supervise its agentsadequately and did not prevent the disruptive behavior. The actions were deemedviolations of CBOT rules covering supervision and market conduct.CME Globex Outage Disrupts Futures TradingThe Hertshten Group case comes amid operational issues atCME Group. Yesterday (Thursday), CME’s Globexelectronic trading platform went offline for several hours, affectingfutures in gold, copper, and natural gas. The outage triggered automated haltsand required intervention from CME’s Global Command Center, which also monitorspre-open trading activity. The disruption affected normal price discovery andhighlighted the exchange’s role in maintaining orderly market operations.This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.