August 27, 2015

CFTC Approves National Futures Association Rules Enhancing Protections for Retail Forex Customers

Washington, DC — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) today approved rule amendments and a new interpretive notice filed by the National Futures Association (NFA). NFA is a registered futures association under section 17 of the Commodity Exchange Act (Act), and is a self-regulatory organization for the U.S. derivatives industry, including on-exchange traded futures, retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions, and swap transactions. NFA submitted the proposed rule amendments and interpretive notice to the Commission for review and approval pursuant to section 17(j) of the Act.

The rule amendments and interpretive notice enhance protections afforded to retail customers of NFA Forex Dealer Members (FDMs) by, among other things: (1) imposing additional capital requirements on FDMs; (2) requiring FDMs to collect security deposits for off-exchange foreign currency transactions from eligible contract participant counterparties in addition to retail counterparties; (3) requiring FDMs to adopt and implement rigorous risk management programs; and (4) requiring FDMs to provide additional market disclosures and firm-specific information on their websites to permit current and potential counterparties to better assess the risks of engaging in off-exchange foreign currency transactions and with conducting business with a particular FDM.

NFA’s submission to the Commission, including the rule amendments and interpretive notice, is available under Related Links. Further information regarding NFA and its regulatory program is available on NFA’s website, www.nfa.futures.org.

Last Updated: August 27, 2015