Commodity Exchange Act

On April 13, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued answers to several Frequently Asked Questions to aid members with their reporting obligations under FINRA Rule 4521(d) (the Rule).

The Rule provides that each member carrying margin accounts for customers must submit, on a settlement date basis, as of the last business day of the month: 1) the total of all debit balances in securities margin accounts; and 2) the total of all free credit balances in all cash accounts and all securities margin accounts.
Continue Reading FINRA Publishes Answer to Frequently Asked Questions Under Rule 4521(d) on Margin Balance Reporting

On April 13, the National Futures Association (NFA) issued Notice I-21-15 advising members firms that new NFA Compliance Rule 2-50 and its related Interpretive Notice become effective June 30. (The proposal of the new rule and Interpretive Notice was discussed in the March 12, 2021 edition of Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest.)
Continue Reading NFA Issues Notice Regarding Effective Date of NFA’s Rules Regarding CPO Notice Filing Requirements

On May 19, the National Futures Association (NFA) submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed amendments to Part 3 of NFA’s Compliance Rules regarding the compliance procedures that control NFA’s disciplinary process. Specifically, the proposed amendments (1) revise NFA Compliance Rule 3-14 to increase the maximum penalty fine amount from $250,000 to $500,000 per violation; (2) modify the rules related to certain Business Conduct Committee’s practices; and (3) make minor technical amendments.
Continue Reading NFA Proposes Amendments to Part 3 of NFA’s Compliance Rules Regarding Disciplinary Process

On April 24, at the request of the National Futures Association (NFA), the staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a no-action letter providing regulatory relief to principals of registrants and applicants for associated person (AP) registration with respect to submission of fingerprint cards.
Continue Reading CFTC and NFA Issue Temporary No-Action Relief for Principal or Associated Person Listings/Registrations

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it has issued an Order of Designation to Bitnomial Exchange, LLC (Bitnomial Exchange), granting it status as a designated contract market (DCM), effective April 20, 2020. Located in Chicago, Bitnomial Exchange is a limited liability company formed under Delaware state law. Bitnomial Exchange must comply with all

On April 14, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) at its open meeting unanimously approved two proposed rules regarding (1) amendments to Form CPO-PQR and related filing requirements for commodity pool oOperators (CPOs); and (2) amendments to the rules governing the treatment of swaps entered into by certain financial institutions.
Continue Reading CFTC Approves Proposed Rules on Filing Requirements for CPOs and Clearing Requirements for Certain Institutions