April 24, 2020

CFTC Provides Additional Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID-19

Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) today announced that, in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, it has issued additional targeted no-action relief to registrants listing new principals and to applicants for registration as associated persons (APs) from the requirement to submit a fingerprint card for any such principal or AP registration applicant.

“An important part of ensuring that our markets remain orderly and liquid is enabling our registered firms to bring sufficient personnel online to interact with their customers,” said DSIO Director Joshua B. Sterling. “This temporary, time-limited relief will have the targeted effect of making sure the difficulties associated with fingerprinting in a remote working environment do not prevent firms from staffing up as they deem appropriate.”

Subject to other conditions, DSIO will grant no-action relief with respect to a registrant listing new principals or an applicant for AP registration until July 23, 2020, or until the National Futures Association (NFA) notifies the public that it has resumed processing fingerprints, whichever is earlier; provided that:

• The registrant or applicant for registration listing such principal, or sponsoring such applicant for AP registration, causes a criminal history background check of such principal or applicant for AP registration to be performed;
• The criminal history background check is of a type that would reveal matters constituting statutory disqualification from registration, and it does not  reveal any such matters, other than those disclosed in the person’s Form 8-R;
• A person with authority to bind the registrant or applicant for registration listing such principal, or sponsoring such applicant for AP registration, signs and submits a certification that the background check was completed and that it did not disclose any matters that constitute a statutory disqualification; and
• The registrant or applicant for registration listing such principal, or sponsoring such applicant for AP registration, maintains records documenting the completion and the results of the criminal history background check in accordance with Regulation 1.31.

In addition, principals and APs of registrants and applicants for registration relying upon this relief must submit fingerprints to NFA within 30 days of NFA’s public announcement that it has resumed fingerprint processing. [See CFTC Staff Letter 20-16]

-CFTC-