Chapter 7 #2 CFTC and NFA Regulations Flashcards
When did the commodity exchange act replace the grain futures act?
1936
What year was the Grain Futures Act?
1922
What did the Grain Futures Act of 1936 require?
Any Transaction in the commodity futures or commodity futures options take place on the floor of an exchange and not in the over-the-counter (OTC) market.
What happened in 1975?
The commodity Exchange act was amended and the CFTC was created by congress to oversee the trading in all futures contracts.
When was the CFTC created?
1975
What is the CFTC
a direct government agency and is the ultimate regulator in the futures industry.
What is an SRO (self regulatory organization)
one that regulates its own members such as the CME or the NFA.
Who must approve all the terms of all futures and options contracts set by futures exchanges?
CFTC
If the CFTC finds that its rules have been violated it may: 4
- Suspend the firm or individual
- Revoke the registration of a firm or individual
- suspend or revoke trading privileges.
- Fine a maximum amount of $140,000 per violation or three times the amount of the gain.
What does a criminal violation of the Commodity exchange act carry?
up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $1M in addition to the suspension or revocation of registration.
What are the main areas of focus for the NFA: 7
- Ensure Ethical Behavior
- ensure individuals meet minimum training and knowledge standards
- Ensure firms meet minimum financial standards
- Conduct unannounced spot audits of members.
- Conduct full- scope member audits every 24 months
- review registrations
- provide a forum for dispute resolution.
Who must register with the NFA?
Any individual or organization that intends to transact futures business with members of the investing public.
How should NFA members deal with Non-NFA members or suspended members?
Treated as a member of the general public.
Who is an Associated Person (AP)
an individual who solicits orders, customers, or customer funds or who supervises persons engaged in these activities on behalf of a FCM, IB, CTA, or CPO. Effectively- and AP is anyone who is a salesperson or who supervises salespersons.
What are the 4 types of firms required to register with NFA?
- FCM
- IB
- CPO
- CTA
What is a FCM
Federal Commission Merchant- A firm that transacts futures business and executes orders for customer accounts. An FCM may also hold customer funds as margin to guarantee customer futures contracts.
What is the minimum net capital of an FCM?
$1M
When do FCMS need to file statement of financial condition?
Each month within 17 days of the end of the month.
What is a clearing firm?
An FCM that maintains the accounts of its customers and holds their cash and securities.
What are the 2 ways an FCM may choose to clear trades for their accounts
directly or omnibus
What happens to confirmations if FCM clears its trades on a fully disclosed basis?
All customer confirmations and statements will be sent by the clearing member.
What happens to confirmations if an FCM clears its trades on an OMNIBUS account
all transactions are cleared through one account and the clearing member does not know for whom the trade was executed.
Who must send confirmations and statements if a customer clears through an omnibus accountt
the Introducing member
Who and how often must an FCM inspect offices of
Any branch office as well as offices of any IB guranteed by the FCM. Annually
What is an Introducing Broker (IB)
an individual or or organization that solicits or accepts customer orders for futures and options on futures.
Can an IB accept a check made out in their name?
no
Who does the IB forward all cash and securities to?
the FCM for deposits into the customers accounts.
How must funds be deposited from an IB customer
must deposited into a qualified bank account entitled “segregated customer funds” on the day of receipt.
What is needed for an IB to directly deposit customer funds into the segregated account of the FCM?
Written authorization to do so on file. The authorization must be maintained by the IB and only the FCM may make withdrawals.
What is a one way account?
an account where an IB can deposit funds into a segregated account and only the FCM can make withdrawals.
Who sends all customer statements and confirmations to the IB customers?
the FCM
What is the minimum net capital maintained by all Introducing Brokers.
At Least $45K
What is needed to operate as an IB guaranteed by an FCM
Written Gurantee agreement from an FCM and must only be guaranteed by one FCM
Can a guaranteed IB introduce trades to more than one FCM?
Yes, but if the IB is a guranteed IB (GIB), most FCMs that guarantee iIBs will require that the IB introduce all trades exclusively as a condition of the guarantee.
Is an FCM responsible of an IB once they guarantee them?
Yes, once the guarantee is in place, the FCM is responsible for all of the activities of the IB and can be found criminally and civilly liable for the actions of the IB.
How many IBs can an FCM guarantee?
an unlimited amount as long as it has the required net capital.
What is a CPO (Commodity Pool Operator)
an organization which invests money contributed by a group of participants to a single account for the purpose of investing the money in futures contracts, options on futures, retail off exchange forex contracts or swaps, or to invest in another commodity pool.
How must a CPO treat each pool if it operates more than one commodity pool?
it must operate each pool separately.
How must customer contributions be made out to for a cpo
made out in the name of the specific commodity pool. Investors in the commodity pool will own an interest in the specific pool.
Registration as a CPO is required for any CPO who: 2
- Manages a pool or a group of pools with more than $400,000 in total assets in all pools.
Or - Manages a pool with more than 15 investors, excluding the operator of the pool and their immediate family.
When are operators exempt from registering as a CPO? 5
- The operator does not receive compensation for operating the club.
- the operator manages only one commodity pool at any one time and they have under 400k and less than 15 investors.
- the operator does not advertise the club.
- Under $400k
- Less than 15 people
What is the operator entitled too when operating an investment club not registerd as a CPO
expenses
What must the operator of a CPO who exempt from registration do in regards to NFA
must file a notice with the NGA citing the reasons why the pool or club is exmpt from registring as a CPO. A cpy of this notice must be sent to each of the participants.
How often must participants in a commodity pool get statements if the value of the pool is greater than 500K?
Monthly
How often must participants in a commodity pool get statements if the value of the pool is less than 500K?
Quarterly
What must all statements to CPO investors show regarding NAV?
- Changes in the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the pool inclusive of all fees and charges.
Where must a CPO disclose notice of upfront fees and/or pass along expense of formation or other expenses to investors?
must disclose the costs and fees prominently on the front cover of the CPOs disclosure document.
What is a CTA
an individual or business who, for compensation or profit, advises others on trading futures contracts or options on futures contracts.
Can a CTA accept customer funds or carry customer accounts?
No
Where are all CTA customer accounts held?
carried at an FCM on a fully disclosed basis and the FCM is required to send out customer confirmations and statements.
All advisors must register as a CTA unless: 6
- It has advised 15 or fewer clients in the last 12 months and does not hold itself out to the public as a commodity trading adviser.
- It is a commodity pool operator and only advises its own pools
- It is a publisher
- It is an investment club
- Individuals who transact business or advise others in the cash market only.
- Anyone who is registered as an AP, CPO, or floor broker and the advice given is incidental to their registered function.
Who must prepare risk disclosure documents to be filed with the NFA and to be given to all prospective investors? 2
CPO and CTAs
When must a CPO and CTA file disclosure documents with the NFA?
21 days prior to being given to any potential investor.
Where must the effective date of a CPO and CTA disclosure document be displayed? What is the earliest time before NFA filing that the date can be?
must be published on the front cover and the effective date may be no earlier than 21 days from the date the documents were filed with the NFA.
What is the oldest the financial information in a disclosure document of a CPO and CTA can be?
3 months old
how often must risk disclosure documents be updated
9 months
What must be displayed on CTA risk disclosure cover page
Cautionary statement in capital letters
What does the cautionary statement of a CTA say?
THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION HAS NOT PASSED UPON THE MERITS OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS TRADING PROGRAM NOR HAS THE COMMISSION PASSED ON THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT.
Where must the risk disclosure statement be displayed?
immediately after the cover page of the document.
What must a CTA include with the Risk Disclosure Statement if it trades foreign futures or options
YOU SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE THAT THIS COMMODITY TRADING ADVISER MAY ENGAGE IN TRADING FOREIGN FUTURES OR OPTIONS CONTRACTS. TRANSACTIONS ON MARKETS LOCATED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDEING MARKETS FORMALLY LINKED TO A UNITED STATES MARKET, MAY BE SUBJECT TO REGULATIONS WHICH OFFER DIFFERENT OR DIMINISHED PROTECTION. FURTHER, UNITED STATES REGULATORY AUTHORITIES MAY BE UNABLE TO COMPEL THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE RULES OF REGULATORY AUTHROTIES OR MARKETS IN NON-UNITED STATES JURISDICTIONS WHERE YOUR TRANSACTIONS MAY BE EFFECTED. BEFORE YOU TRADE YOU SHOULD INCQUIRE ABOUT ANY RULES RELAVENAT TO YOUR PARTICULAR CONTEMPLATED TRANSACTIONS AND ASK THE FIRM WITH WHICH YOU INTEND TO TRADE FOR DETAILS ABOUT THE TYPES OF REDRESS AVAILABLE IN BOTH YOUR LOCAL AND OTHER RELEVANT JURISDICTIONS.
If CTA engages in retail forex transactions pursuant to the offered trading program, the risk disclosure must state:
ON AN ANNUAL BASIS THE NFA WILL SEND EACH NFA MEMBER FCM RFED, IB, CPO, CTA, AND LTM A BUSINESS PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE RELATING TO THE MEMBERS BUSINESS ACTIVITIES. THE MEMBER MUST COMPLETE THE QUESTIONNAIRE ON TEH DATE SPECIFIED THEREON. NFA SHALL DEEM THE FAILURE TO THE FILE THE COMPLETED QUESTIONAIRE WITHIN 30 DAYS FOLLOWING SUCH DATE A REQUEST TO WITHDRAW FROM NFA MEMBERSHIP, AND SHALL NOTIFY THE MEMBER ACCORDINGLY.
CPO Risk Disclosure Cover Page
THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION HAS NOT PASSED UPON THE MERITS OF OF PARTICIPATING IN THIS POOL NOR HAS THE COMMISSION PASSED ON THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT.
CTAs and CPOs are required to disclose the background of? and for how long back?
the business history of the firm and its principals for the preceding 5 years.
What must a CTA and CPO disclose? 5
- The business history of its Firm and its principals for the preceding 5 years
- any regulatory action taken against the firm or its principals in the preceding 5 years as well as for the current year.
- The entire performance history of the adviser if the CTA has less than 5 years of data available.
- If the advisor is just starting out and has not previously directed or advised accounts that fact must be disclosed to prospects.
- CTAs must disclose the method under which it will charge fees to clients in addition to the amount and timing of when the fees will be deducted.
All disclosure document must be made available for inspection by the CFTC within how long
72 hour notice
In addition to what CTAs must disclose, what must CPOs disclose in disclosure document? 9
- Principal office for the CPO
- Principal office for each commodity pool
- Types of contracts and options traded
- Restrictions on liquidation or liquidation procedures
- Name of all CTAS who manage 10% or more of a pool
- Name of any participant who owns 10% or more of a pool.
- Name of executing FCM
- Minimum of maximum size of each pool
- Breakeven analysis for each pool showing what the fund must return for the investor to breakeven net of all fees.
How long must established CPOs make performance disclosures for?
the current year and the preceding 5 years.
How much history must be disclosed if a CPO has existed between 3-5 years
the entire history must be disclosed
What must a CPO disclose for its performance if a pool has operated under 3 years
the performance for all other pools for the last 3 years in addition to the complete performance history of the pool in question.
What is the exact language that needs to be said if a pool has no history
“This pool has not commenced and does not have any performance history.”
When must all disclosure documents for CTAs and CPOs be given to clients?
48 hours prior to investing or at the time the account is opened if clients are given 5 days to terminate.
What does NFA rule 2-30 “Know your customer” state?
an AP should obtain all vital information relating to the customer.
for an AP, What must happen prior to opening an account for any new customer in terms of the process? 3
- An AP must complete and sign a commodities account form and the account must be accepted by a manager or principal of the firm.
- The manager will acknowledge the acceptance of the account by signing a new account card.
- All customers must be given the commodities risk disclosure statement to be signed and dated by all parties to the account at or before the time the account is opened and before any trade can be executed.