Market Regulation

The Small Exchange® Regulatory Department enforces Exchange rules to protect market Participants and the integrity of its markets. In doing so, the Regulatory Department conducts trade practice and market surveillance to identify and prevent potential CFTC and Exchange rule violations to fulfill its self-regulatory responsibilities as a Designated Contract Market (DCM).

Small Exchange Rulebook

The Small Exchange is a DCM registered with the CFTC that has self-regulatory responsibilities and maintains its own set of rules.

The Small Exchange Rulebook was established to provide for a fair and equitable marketplace, and it is important for all Members and Participants to understand and comply with Exchange Rules.

Notifications and Rule Filings

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Market Notices

Receive information on market events, error trades, trade corrections, holiday notices, disciplinary actions, Rulebook amendments, market surveillance, technology notices and other regulatory items related to the Small Exchange's markets.

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Electronic Order Audit Trail Requirements

Clearing Members are responsible for maintaining, or causing to be maintained, the order routing/front-end audit trail for all electronic orders, including order entry, modification, cancellation and responses to such messages, entered into the Trading System through any gateway (collectively, the “Electronic Order Audit Trail”) for a period of five (5) years with the first two (2) years in an easily accessible place for each of its guaranteed Participants, to the Trading System .

All Participants must have the ability to produce this data in a standard format compliant with applicable rules upon request by the Exchange.

 In accordance with Exchange Rule 524, the Electronic Order Audit Trail must include:

  • All order receipt, order entry, order modification messages; and
  • Response/receipt times to the highest level of precision achievable by the operating system, but at least to the hundredth of a second

Please refer to Exchange Rule 524 for complete specifications in relation to the Electronic Order Audit Trail.  Feedback and questions about Electronic Order Audit Trail requirements may be sent to regulation@smallexchange.com.

Contact the Regulatory Department

Small Exchange's Regulatory Department is responsible for monitoring trading activity on the Exchange, and enforcing the Rules of the Exchange and the CFTC.  Please contact the Regulatory Department at regulation@smallexchange.com if you are aware of circumstances that could be indicative of a Rule violation.

In order for the Exchange to be able to identify and respond to your concern, please be prepared to provide the following information:

  • date of the incident;
  • approximate time;
  • the market including the contract month and year; and
  • known facts and circumstances, including any specific and identifying information regarding the potentially violative activity

The information obtained is confidential and will generally not be shared with anyone outside the Regulatory Department, except as required by Exchange Rules and federal regulations, in which case such information may require to be disclosed to the CFTC or other regulatory bodies pursuant to existing information-sharing agreement or regulatory requests for information and documents.  More information on what constitutes a violation of the Exchange’s Rules can be found in the Exchange Rulebook.

If you are seeking recovery of a trading loss, please be advised, you may be required to submit  for arbitration administered through the National Futures Association’s (NFA) Arbitration Program.  For more information regarding arbitration requirements, or to submit a claim, please visit NFA’s website below!

Position Limit and Other Reporting Levels

The Small Exchange utilizes position, volume, and accountability levels in conjunction with position limits to maintain a fair and orderly market place.  The limit and levels listed below apply to each available contact month. Position and volume levels are always in effect for the available contracts. The position limit becomes effective five (5) trading days prior to the contract’s expiration; for all other days the accountability levels are in effect.  Position limits and other reporting levels will be enforced for options contracts as they are for futures contracts, with options being aggregated as detailed in the Small Exchange Rulebook. For more information on position limits and reporting levels, please refer to Small Exchange Rules 521-523.

The below limits and levels apply to all Small Exchange markets.

Type

Contracts

Position Reporting Level (Large Trader/102A) - S5C

200

Volume Reporting Level (102B)

50

Position Accountability Level

10,000

Position Limit

5,000