PRIA Logo™
Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110

§12c Disciplinary Actions

Title 7 › CHAPTER 1 — COMMODITY EXCHANGES › § 12c

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Exchanges, or the Commission if an exchange does not act, may suspend, expel, discipline, or deny access to people who are exchange members. Those actions must follow the exchange’s rules. The exchange must give written notice to the Commission and to the person within 30 days. The notice must say why the action was taken in the form the Commission requires. The exchange must make public its findings and the penalty, but it must not release the evidence except to the person involved and to the Commission. The Commission can review these exchange decisions on its own or when someone affected asks. After review it can confirm, change, cancel, or send the matter back to the exchange, and its order will control how the exchange proceeds, subject to court review. The Commission can also pause the exchange action while it reviews. The Commission must make rules requiring each registered entity to publish a list of major violations. Anyone found to have committed a major violation is barred, for a time the Commission sets, from serving on the governing board or on a disciplinary committee of any registered entity or registered futures association.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §12c

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Action taken; written notice of reasons for action
(1)Any exchange or the Commission if the exchange fails to act, may suspend, expel, or otherwise discipline any person who is a member of that exchange, or deny any person access to the exchange. Any such action shall be taken solely in accordance with the rules of that exchange.
(2)Any suspension, expulsion, disciplinary, or access denial procedure established by an exchange rule shall provide for written notice to the Commission and to the person who is suspended, expelled, or disciplined, or denied access, within thirty days, which includes the reasons for the exchange action in the form and manner the Commission prescribes. An exchange shall make public its findings and the reasons for the exchange action in any such proceeding, including the action taken or the penalty imposed, but shall not disclose the evidence therefor, except to the person who is suspended, expelled, or disciplined, or denied access, and to the Commission.
(b)Review by Commission
The Commission may, in its discretion and in accordance with such standards and procedures as it deems appropriate, review any decision by an exchange whereby a person is suspended, expelled, otherwise disciplined, or denied access to the exchange. In addition, the Commission may, in its discretion and upon application of any person who is adversely affected by any other exchange action, review such action.
(c)Affirmance, modification, set aside, or remand of action
The Commission may affirm, modify, set aside, or remand any exchange decision it reviews pursuant to subsection (b), after a determination on the record whether the action of the exchange was in accordance with the policies of this chapter. Subject to judicial review, any order of the Commission entered pursuant to subsection (b) shall govern the exchange in its further treatment of the matter.
(d)Stay of action
The Commission, in its discretion, may order a stay of any action taken pursuant to subsection (a) pending review thereof.
(e)Major disciplinary rule violations
(1)The Commission shall issue regulations requiring each registered entity to establish and make available to the public a schedule of major violations of any rule within the disciplinary jurisdiction of such registered entity.
(2)The regulations issued by the Commission pursuant to this subsection shall prohibit, for a period of time to be determined by the Commission, any individual who is found to have committed any major violation from service on the governing board of any registered entity or registered futures association, or on any disciplinary committee thereof.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2000—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 106–554 substituted “registered entity” for “contract market” wherever appearing. 1992—Pub. L. 102–546 redesignated pars. (1) to (4) as subsecs. (a) to (d), respectively, in subsec. (a) redesignated subpars. (A) and (B) as pars. (1) and (2), respectively, in subsec. (c) substituted references to subsection (b) for references to paragraph (2), in subsec. (d) substituted reference to subsection (a) for reference to paragraph (1), and added subsec. (e). 1978—Par. (1)(B). Pub. L. 95–405 substituted “An exchange shall make public its findings and the reasons for the exchange action in any such proceeding, including the action taken or the penalty imposed, but shall not disclose the evidence therefor, except to the person who is suspended, expelled, or disciplined or denied access, and to the Commission” for “Otherwise the notice and reasons shall be kept confidential”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1978 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 95–405 effective Oct. 1, 1978, see section 28 of Pub. L. 95–405, set out as a note under section 2 of this title.

Effective Date

For

Effective Date

of section, see section 418 of Pub. L. 93–463, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1968 Amendment note under section 2 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 12c

Title 7, Agriculture

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110