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
95-42 PDF Image; CEAct 4d, Rule 1.3(mm);; No-Action
A CTA will not be required to register as an IB where, among other things, an FCM remits to the CTA a per-trade fee in satisfaction of a fixed yearly fee, which the CTA's sole non-discretionary client agreed to pay for trading signals and research. Relief is subject to the condition that the CTA does not accept compensation from any other client except in the form of incentive and management fees that are not remitted to the CTA on a per-trade basis
95-41 PDF Image; CEAct 4m(l), Rule 4.23(a);; No-Action
The foreign administrative general partner of a pool is granted relief from CPO registration where a second general partner, who is a registered CPO, runs the investment and trading program of the pool and co-signs an affidavit with the administrative general partner wherein each accepts joint and several liability for any CEAct violations by the other. Relief from registration is also conditioned on the fact that the one limited partner, although a U.S. person (because it is wholly owned by a US person), is a major institutional investor who is a QEP under Rule 4.7
95-50 PDF Image; Rule 4.7;; No-Action
A fund-of-funds QEP partnership may treat certain limited partners as QEPs, and so may invest more than ten percent of the partnership's assets in Rule 4.7 exempt pools, where all of the non-QEP limited partners: (1) are SEC Regulation D "accredited investors;" (2) are personally known to the general partners; (3) have been limited partners for at least the past five years; and (4) have consented to being treated as QEPs and to a waiver of the ten percent limitation
95-26 PDF Image; CEAct 4m(1);; No-Action
The operator of an offshore pool is not required to register as a CPO, where the operator is wholly owned by a U.S. person who is listed as the sole principal and is registered as an AP of a registered CPO and CTA
95-25 PDF Image; Rule 4.5;; No-Action
Three corporate affiliates of a bank holding company will not be required to register as CPOs with respect to their combined management, investment of assets, and sale of units, of a pooled investment vehicle organized as a Delaware business trust ("the Trust"), and will be allowed to operate the Trust under the provisions of Rule 4.5. Of the three affiliates: one acts as trustee, subject to state banking regulations; the second engages in sales and administrative activities with respect to the Trust, also subject state banking regulations; and the third, which acts as the Trust's investment manager, is registered as both an investment adviser with the SEC and a CTA with the CFTC
95-53 PDF Image; Rules 4.21(a)(4), (a)(5) and (f);; No-Action
A registered CPO is granted relief from: (1) disclosing the past performance of another CPO at which one of its principals had been employed, where the principal's role, with both the former and the current CPO, is a limited one and the current CPO would include a discussion of the former CPO's performance results and make them available upon request; (2) disclosing the past performance of "less than ten percent" CTAs; and (3) including an Account Statement with the Disclosure Document, where the pool offers daily investment and redemption privileges, provided the Account Statement would be included with the confirmation of purchase
95-28 PDF Image; CEAct 4d, Rule 1 3(mm);; No-Action
A natural person ("A") is a principal and sole owner of a registered corporate CPO, which has organized a pool. A is also an AP of a registered IB. The CPO will not be required to register as an IB also, even though the CPO, rather than A in his capacity as an AP of the IB, will receive as income certain commissions payable to A from the IB, relating to trades introduced for the pool
95-24 PDF Image; CEAct 4m(1);; No-Action
The new general partner of a Rule 4.12(b) private investment limited partnership is not required to register as a CPO where: (1) the other general partners are, or will be, registered as CPOs; (2) the new general partner's responsibilities will be limited to financial administrative matters; and (3) the new general partner will not exercise discretion, supervision or control over, or participate in, either (i) the solicitation, acceptance or receipt of funds or property to be used for purchasing interest in the partnership, or (ii) the investment, use or disposition of funds or property of the partnership
95-23 PDF Image; Rule 4.7;; No-Action
A CPO may continue to claim Rule 4.7 relief for a fund, including the right to invest more than ten percent of the fund's assets in Rule 4.7 investee pools, notwithstanding the fund's acceptance of a non-QEP investor who is the managing director and a listed principal of the CPO
95-22 PDF Image; Rule 4.7;; No-Action
A registered CPO may treat a pool as an exempt pool under Rule 4.7(a), where the sole non-QEP investor: (1) is an "accredited investor" under SEC Regulation D; (2) is a vice president of the CPO; and (3) has applied for registration as an AP of the CPO