The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight confirmed the availability of Staff Letter 00-10, which provided CPO registration relief to a universitys cooperative extension service, its agents and employees, permitting them to offer courses that would allow certain students to trade commodity interests through participation in a trading club, notwithstanding certain amendments to the course and trading club criteria.

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (Division) took a CPO registration no-action position with respect to the operation of certain collective trading vehicles by either of two corporations (A and B) entirely controlled by a non-profit corporation (C) that is the coordinating organization for a denomination’s churches.

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight granted no-action relief from the registration requirement of Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act to a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) of a pool, the investors of which are the owner of the general partner and CPO of the pool, his family investment vehicle, and his close business associates who were involved in developing the pool’s trading algorithm.

DSIO granted no action relief with respect to registration as a CPO for an entity acting as a directed trustee with respect to a commodity pool.

The Division issued an interpretation of CEA Section 1a(10) and Regulation 4.10(d), both of which define the term “commodity pool,” which will permit wholly owned subsidiaries of a single life insurance company to contribute their general account assets to a single vehicle formed by them, and will permit the vehicle to invest directly or indirectly in commodity interests without being deemed a commodity pool.

Two families, whose patriarchs have been business partners of a large, publicly traded U.S. retailer since the company’s founding over forty years ago, requested no-action relief from CPO registration on behalf of the families, the S corporation founded solely to provide services to the families, and the S corporation’s employees, with regard to funds operated by the families that may invest in commodity interests.

Staff Advisory Concerning Commodity Trading Advisors and Swaps

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight provided no-action relief to the managing member of a commodity pool from registering as a CPO under Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, and allowed an affiliate (“designee”) to serve as the CPO of the pool instead, where, among other things: (1) the managing member and the designee are under common ownership and control; (2) the managing member has delegated all of its management authority to the designee; (3) the managing member does not engage in the solicitation of investors for the pool and does not manage property of the

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight provided no-action relief to the general partner of a commodity pool from registering as a CPO under Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, and allowed an affiliated CPO (“designee”) to serve as the CPO of the pool instead, where, among other things: (1) the general partner and the designee are under common ownership and control; (2) the general partner has delegated all of its management authority to the designee; (3) the general partner does not engage in the solicitation of investors for the pool and does not manage property of

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight provided no-action relief to the general partners of two commodity pools from registering as a CPO under Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, and allowed an affiliated CPO (""designee"") to serve as the CPO of the pools instead, where, among other things: (1) the general partners and the designee are under common ownership and control; (2) the general partners have delegated all of their management authority to the designee; (3) the general partners do not engage in the solicitation of investors for the pools