CFTC Staff Letters Archive

CFTC Staff Letters Archive provides Letters from 2007 and earlier. For Letters published 2008 or later visit the All Letters page.

There are no Advisory Letters or Other Written Communications for 2007 or earlier.

Date PDF and Description
95-21 PDF Image; CEAct ?1a(4) and 1a(5), Rule 4.10(d) and 4.14(a)(5); No-Action
A general partnership is not a commodity pool under Rule 4.10(d), and none of the partners is a CPO of the partnership, where, among other things: of the 14 partners, one is a long term advisor and the other 13 are immediate family members, or trusts those immediate family members beneficially own and for which they serve as trustees. Neither are any of the partners required to register as CTAs
95-19 PDF Image; Rules 3.1(a), 3.10(a)(2);; No-Action
(denied) - A CTA is required to list its corporate secretary as a principal of the CTA (and that person, like all corporate officers, must file a Form 8-R and a fingerprint card), even though the CTA claims that the corporate secretary performs only clerical functions
95-16 PDF Image; Rule 4.14(a)(6);; No-Action
Where a principal/AP of a registered introducing broker exercises discretionary authority over nine of the IB's 17 accounts, the IB will not be required to register as a CTA, provided it does not acquire any additional client accounts that the IB or the principal/AP would direct
95-27 PDF Image; CEAct 1a(5), 4m(1);; No-Action
A company engaged in the business of acquiring mortgage loans and mortgage backed securities, subject to SEC regulation, is not required to register as a CPO where it will open commodities accounts only to hedge its interest rate exposure, and the aggregate funds to be deposited as original margin or option premiums will be limited to no more than one percent of the fair market value of the company's assets. Also, three company officers who will advise the company regarding this trading are not required to register as CTAs where they: (1) are not subject to statutory disqualification; (2) do not provide trading advice to any other persons; and (3) do not otherwise hold themselves out to the public as CTAs
95-14 PDF Image; CEAct 4m(1);; No-Action
Relief from CPO registration granted to a new general partner of a Rule 4.12(b) private investment limited partnership where the other general partners are registered as CPOs and the new general partner's responsibilities will be limited to financial administrative matters
95-30 PDF Image; CEAct 4m(l), Rule 4.5(c) (2);; No-Action
An SEC registered broker-dealer with its principal office and place of business in Puerto Rico is not required to register as a CPO or CTA in connection with operating an investment company (the "Fund"), where: (1) certain restrictions are imposed on the Fund's investment activities; (2) the Fund is registered under the laws of Puerto Rico; (3) the Funds is organized in Puerto Rico and will be offered solely to residents of Puerto Rico; and (4) the Fund will use commodity interest contracts in a manner consistent with Rule 4.5(c)(2). Also, a financial institution chartered and having its principal office and place of business in Puerto Rico, which will jointly manage the Fund's investment portfolio and share authority to make investment decisions for the Fund, is not required to register as a CTA
95-11 PDF Image; Rules 1.31, 1.33, 1.46, 4.32;; No-Action
An FCM may provide a CTA, acting as an account controller, with confirmation and purchase-and-sale statements via electronic transmission only (i.e., without also providing such statements by mail in hard copy form), provided that: (1) the FCM continues to provide monthly account statements in hard copy form; and (2) the CTA maintains the electronically transmitted statements in accordance with the Rule 1.31 (d) standards for optical storage systems. This relief does not affect the requirement that FCMs must provide statements to customers in hard copy form
95-09 PDF Image; Rule 4.7(b)(1)(ii);; No-Action
A CTA may claim Rule 4.7 relief in connection with providing commodity interest trading advice to an accredited investor who is not a US person and not a "qualified eligible client" based upon, among other things, representations that the investor had a long-standing business relationship with an AP of the CTA and the CTA only advised Rule 4.7 clients
95-8;; PDF Image; Rules, Part 30;; No-Action
Clarifies circumstances in which certain institutional customers of a US FCM may transmit orders directly to that FCM's foreign affiliate for execution on their behalf through the FCM's omnibus account. A previous CFTC Letter (No. 93-115) addressed circumstances in which the foreign affiliate had Rule 30.10 relief. This CFTC Letter applies to circumstances in which the foreign affiliate does not have Rule 30.10 relief
95-13 PDF Image; Rule 4.7;; No-Action
An investor pool may be treated as a QEP, notwithstanding the presence of non-QEPs: (1) by the CPO of an investee pool in which the investor pool has been a participant for more than four years; and (2) by registered CTAs, who must have traded proprietary funds of the investor pool's CPO for a minimum of six months prior to being eligible to trade for the investor pool