Release:#3897-96

For Release:March 21, 1996

CFTC Files Statutory Disqualification Action Against CBOT Floor Broker, Edgar Clifford Sharp, III, and Simultaneously Accepts His Settlement Offer, Which Includes a Two-Year Period of Conditioned Registration

Washington -- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that it has filed a Notice of Intent to Condition, Suspend, Revoke or Restrict Registration against Edgar Clifford Sharp, III, a registered floor broker at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). At the same time it filed the Notice against Sharp, the CFTC accepted Sharp's offer of settlement, which includes a two- year period of conditioned registration during which time Sharp will only be allowed to trade for himself, and not for customers.

CFTC Settlement Order Includes an Automatic Suspension Provision,

Effective If Sharp is Charged with New Disciplinary Offenses

Under the terms of the settlement, during the two-year period of conditioned registration, Sharp's registration will be subject to an automatic suspension if he is charged with certain disciplinary offenses as defined in applicable Commission regulations. The suspension would be in effect for six months, or longer, if charges were brought based on the new offense.

The CFTC's action was a follow-up to a disciplinary proceeding brought by the CBOT charging that Sharp traded ahead of customer orders in three separate transactions during an evening Treasury Bond trading session in September 1992. To settle the CBOT's proceeding, Sharp had paid disgorgement of profits of $41,718.25 plus interest to customers, had paid a $40,000 fine, and was suspended from floor trading privileges for 30 business days.

To settle the CFTC action, Sharp, without admitting or denying the allegations in the Notice, consented to a finding that, as a result of his alleged trading ahead of customers, he is subject to a statutory disqualification from registration under the Commodity Exchange Act. The CFTC settlement order against Sharp conditions his registration and trading activity for two years, as detailed above. It also requires Sharp to obtain a sponsor, in this case two officers of his clearing firm, who will provide close supervision of his trading.

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