[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 17, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 17CFR12.7]

[Page 271]
 
              TITLE 17--COMMODITY AND SECURITIES EXCHANGES
 
             CHAPTER I--COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
 
PART 12_RULES RELATING TO REPARATIONS--Table of Contents
 
Subpart A_General Information and Preliminary Consideration of Pleadings
 
Sec.  12.7  Ex parte communications in reparation proceedings.

    (a) Prohibitions against ex parte communications. (1) No interested 
person outside the Commission shall make or knowingly cause to be made 
to any Commissioner, Administrative Law Judge, or Commission decisional 
employee an ex parte communication relevant to the merits of a 
proceeding.
    (2) No Commissioner, Administrative Law Judge, or Commission 
decisional employee shall make or knowingly cause to be made to any 
interested person outside the Commission an ex parte communication 
relevant to the merits of a proceeding.
    (b) Procedures for handling ex parte communications. A Commissioner, 
Administrative Law Judge or Commission decisional employee who receives, 
or who makes or knowingly causes to be made, an ex parte communication 
prohibited by paragraph (a) of this section shall:
    (1) Place on the public record of the proceeding:
    (i) All such written communications;
    (ii) Memoranda stating the substance of all such oral 
communications; and
    (iii) All written responses, and memoranda stating the substance of 
all oral responses, to the materials described in paragraphs (b)(1) (i) 
and (ii) of this section; and
    (2) Promptly give written notice of such communication and responses 
thereto to all parties to the proceedings to which the communication or 
responses relate.
    (c) Sanctions. (1) Upon receipt of an ex parte communication 
knowingly made or knowingly caused to be made by a party in violation of 
the prohibition contained in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the 
Commission, Administrative Law Judge, or Judgment Officer may, to the 
extent consistent with the interests of justice and the policy of the 
Act, require the party to show cause why his claim or interest in the 
proceeding should not be dismissed, denied, disregarded, or otherwise 
adversely affected on account of such violation.
    (2) Any attorney or accountant who knowingly makes or knowingly 
causes to be made, or who knowingly solicits or knowingly causes the 
solicitation of, an ex parte communication which violates the 
prohibitions contained in paragraph (a) of this section may be deemed to 
have engaged in unprofessional conduct of the type proscribed by 17 CFR 
14.8(c).
    (3) Any Commissioner, Administrative Law Judge, or Commission 
decisional employee who knowingly makes or knowingly causes to be made, 
or who knowingly solicits or knowingly causes the solicitation of, an ex 
parte communication which violates the prohibitions contained in 
paragraph (a) of this section may be deemed to have engaged in conduct 
of the type proscribed by 5 CFR 2635.101(b).
    (d) Applicability of prohibitions and sanctions against ex parte 
communications. (1) The prohibitions of this section against ex parte 
communications shall apply:
    (i) To any person who has actual knowledge that a proceeding has 
been or will be commenced by order of the Commission; and
    (ii) To all persons after public notice has been given that a 
proceeding has been or will be commenced by order of the Commission.
    (2) The prohibitions of this section shall remain in effect until a 
final order has been entered in the proceeding which is no longer 
subject to review by the Commission or to appellate review by a court.

[49 FR 6621, Feb. 22, 1984, as amended at 59 FR 9636, Mar. 1, 1994]

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