Via Portal Submission

May 9, 2023

MGEX Submission No. 23-23

Mr. Christopher Kirkpatrick

Secretary of the Commission

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Three Lafayette Centre

1155 21st Street NW

Washington, DC 20581

RE: Rule Certification Submission Pursuant to Regulation 40.6(a); Amendments to MGEX Rules

Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick:

Pursuant to Commodity Exchange Act (“CEAct”) Section 5c and Commodity Futures Trading Commission 

(“CFTC” or “Commission”) Regulation 40.6(a), the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, LLC (“MGEX” or 

“Exchange”) hereby certifies that the amendments to MGEX Rule 83.17., as set forth in Exhibit A, comply 

with the CEAct and the Commission regulations promulgated thereunder (the “Proposed Amendments”). 

MGEX further certifies that the submission and pending changes to the MGEX Rules have been posted on 

the Exchange website at the following link: http://www.mgex.com/regulation.html.

Overview of Rules Amendments

The Proposed Amendments to the above-referenced Rule modify the SPIKES block trade threshold.

DCM Core Principles

MGEX has reviewed the Core Principles for designated contract markets (“DCM Core Principles”) and 

identified that the Proposed Amendments may impact the following DCM Core Principles:

• DCM Core Principle 2 – Compliance with Rules: The Proposed Amendments modify the SPIKES 

block trade threshold set forth in Rule 83.17.

• DCM Core Principle 7 – Availability of General Information: The Proposed Amendments have been 

disseminated on the MGEX website, and will be available in the MGEX Rulebook, which is 

accessible online.

Pursuant to MGEX Bylaw 3.1., the MGEX Board of Directors (“Board”) unanimously approved the Proposed 

Amendments at its meeting held on May 8, 2023. There were no substantive opposing views expressed 

by the Board, nor is the Exchange aware of any substantive opposing views with respect to this filing. The 

Proposed Amendments are to be effective when incorporated into the MGEX Rulebook and posted on its 

website, which will be at least 10 business days following the date of this submission. 

If there are any questions regarding this submission, please contact me at (612) 321-7128 or 

psparby@mgex.com. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
MINNEAPOLIS GRAIN EXCHANGE, LLC

400 South 4th Street | 130 Grain Exchange Building | Minneapolis, MN 55415

612-321-7101

mgex.com

Sincerely,

Peter D. Sparby

Vice President, Counsel

Enclosure
MINNEAPOLIS GRAIN EXCHANGE, LLC

400 South 4th Street | 130 Grain Exchange Building | Minneapolis, MN 55415

612-321-7101

mgex.com

EXHIBIT A

The following MGEX Bylaws and Rules are to be amended. Additions are underlined while deletions 

are marked through.

83.17. BLOCK TRADES.

For the purpose of this Rule, Block Trades are defined as large transactions that are privately negotiated 

off the Exchange’s Electronic Trading System and can only be entered into by Eligible Contract Participants, 

as defined in Section 1a(18) of the Commodity Exchange Act.

Block Trades are permitted to be executed in the SPK Futures Contract, provided they are in accordance 

with the following provisions:

A. A Block Trade must be for a quantity that is at or in excess of the applicable minimum 

threshold. Orders for different accounts may not be aggregated in order to achieve the 

minimum transaction size. The Block Trade minimum threshold in the SPK Futures 

Contract is 200 25 contracts.

B. A Party shall not execute any order as a Block Trade for a customer unless such customer 

has specified that the order be executed as a Block Trade.

C. The Block Trade is executed competitively at a price that is fair and reasonable with 

consideration to the prevailing market price of either the SPK Futures Contract. The 

minimum price increment for a Block Trade in the SPK Futures Contract is 0.01 index 

points.

D. Block Trades will not trigger conditional orders or otherwise affect orders in the underlying 

SPK Futures Contract traded on the Electronic Trading System.

E. Clearing Members must ensure that each side of the Block Trade is reported to the 

Exchange within fifteen (15) minutes (but in no case later than 4:15 p.m. Central Time) and 

in the manner specified by the Exchange. The reporting of each side of the Block Trade 

must include the: contract, contract month, price, quantity of the transaction including 

quantities for each leg, buy/sell side, CTI and Regular (House) or Segregated (Customer) 

indicators, account number, the respective Clearing Members, the time of execution, and 

any other information required in accordance with MGEX Rules.

F. Each counterparty to a Block Trade must have a separate and independent bona-fide legal 

or business purpose for entering into the Block Trade.

G. Parties involved in the solicitation or negotiation of a Block Trade may not disclose the 

details of such communication to any other party for any purpose other than to facilitate 

the execution of the Block Trade.