SECURITIES

Nymex Boss to Take Leave: New York Mercantile Exchange Chairman Lou Guttman, who is facing possible civil charges of commodities law violations, says he will take a leave of absence from his job. The move is effective July 31. Vice Chairman Daniel Rappaport will assume Guttman’s duties at Nymex, the world’s leading futures market for crude oil and refined petroleum. Guttman, who has headed Nymex since 1988, apparently made his decision under pressure from the exchange’s board of directors, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Journal reported that federal futures regulators have notified Guttman they will recommend the filing of an administrative complaint against him and his former partner, Harold Magid, for allegedly prearranged commodity trades executed in 1989 by the former Guttman-Magid joint trading account. Prearranged trades, which have no element of risk and thus are not subject to market forces, are illegal.