TheNational Futures Association (NFA) has fined Marex Spectron InternationalLimited $350,000 for letting unregistered staff handle orders from U.S.customers. It is the second time in four years the London broker has settledthe same type of case.The NFA'sBusiness Conduct Committee issued the decision on June 30. Marex Spectronneither admitted nor denied the findings, which cover a breach of an NFAregistration rule and a related supervision requirement.A Second Case Over theSame ConductThe penaltyruns 40% higher than the $250,000 the firm paid in 2022 after an earlier NFA examination.Both cases centered on the same London energy division.In thecurrent matter, examiners found 14 Marex Spectron brokers soliciting oraccepting orders from U.S. customers without registering with the CommodityFutures Trading Commission as associated persons. NFA rules require that statusfor anyone dealing with American clients.Thirteen ofthe 14 worked in London and one in Dubai, according to the complaint. Theyhandled about 75 trades for 20 U.S. customers between February and April 2024,and made up roughly 40% of the brokers on the London energy desk.Why Registration AppliesA CFTCexemption lets brokers based outside the United States skip registration ifthey deal only with non-U.S. customers. NFA said the 14 individuals did notqualify, because their clients were companies formed or headquartered in theUnited States.One examplein the complaint describes a London broker arranging a crude oilcontract-for-difference trade in March 2024 for a client that firm recordsidentified as an Illinois company based in Chicago.Repeat Findings DrawSharper LanguageThe firm'sfirst NFA case, filed in 2022, followed a 2020 examination and named 18 brokersin the same division. That case also ended in a settlement, alongside separateNFA actions that year against Coquest and Interactive Brokers.NFA saidthe repeat findings were "especially troubling" given the earliercomplaint, and that the firm had not put effective controls in place to stopthe conduct from recurring.Regulatorspointed to one broker, identified only as Employee 1, who was flagged back inthe 2020 examination. The firm had said a registered colleague would take overhis U.S. business. It later acknowledged he arranged more than 50 trades forU.S. customers between June 2021 and June 2024 while still unregistered.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.