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 February 8, the National Futures Association (NFA) released three Notices to Member that cover educational resources, common regulatory and compliance deficiencies, and recent amendments to NFA Rules and Interpretative notices, each aimed at a different audience, as indicated below.
Continue Reading NFA Publishes Series of Member Notices Related to Common Deficiencies and Other Regulatory Matters

On October 15, at the same open meeting in which it approved the final rule on position limits, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission unanimously approved two other unrelated final rules.

The first final rule extends the compliance date one year, from September 1, 2021 to September 1, 2022, for margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers and major swap participants for which there is no banking regulator. This rule will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading CFTC Approves Certain Final Rules Amending Margin Requirements for Certain Uncleared Swaps and Exemptions From Registration for Certain Foreign Intermediaries

On September 29, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, October 6 at 10:30 a.m. (ET). The meeting will consider amendments to compliance requirements for Commodity Pool Operators on Form CPO-PQR and the memorandum of understanding between the CFTC and the Officer of Financial Research Regarding the Sharing of Data and Information Collected on Form CPO-PQR.
Continue Reading CFTC to Hold Open Commission Meeting on October 6

On July 8, the National Futures Association (NFA) issued Notice I-20-27 to remind member firms that the compliance date for NFA’s Swaps Proficiency Requirements (Requirements) is January 31, 2021 (Compliance Date). NFA Members with associated persons (AP) required to satisfy the Requirements must ensure that covered individuals are in compliance by the Compliance Date. Individuals who do not satisfy the Requirements by the Compliance Date will be unable to engage in swaps activities until they have done so.
Continue Reading NFA Issues Notice to Members Regarding Compliance Date for Swaps Proficiency Requirement

At its open meeting on June 4, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved a final rule prohibiting persons from seeking to claim a Commodity Pool Operator registration exemption under CFTC Rule 4.13 who are, or whose principals are, subject to any of the statutory disqualifications listed in Section 8a(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).
Continue Reading CFTC Unanimously Approves Final Rule Regarding CPO Registration Exemption

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold an open meeting on April 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (ET) to consider several proposed amendments to its rules, including: (1) proposed amendments to the CFTC’s Part 190 bankruptcy regulations; (2) compliance requirements for commodity pool operators on Form CPO-PQR; and (3) proposed amendments to the CFTC’s Part 50 rules addressing clearing requirements for central banks, sovereigns, international financial institutions, bank holding companies and community development financial institutions.
Continue Reading CFTC to Hold an Open Commission Meeting on April 14

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) issued no-action relief to commodity pool operators (CPOs) extending the upcoming filing deadlines for required pool quarterly reports on CFTC Form CPO-PQR, as well as annual reports and periodic account statements provided to pool participants. National Futures Association (NFA) also issued similar relief to CPOs for pool quarterly reporting requirements on NFA Form PQR and to commodity trading advisors (CTAs) for quarterly filings on NFA Form PR.
Continue Reading Regulatory Relief Issued for CPOs and CTAs