Member Firms Subject to Increased Oversight & Compliance Responsibilities In early December the National Futures Association (“NFA”) submitted two proposed amendments proposed amendments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) regarding NFA Member Firms and their use of the internet and social media networks.  The amendments focus on communications by [...]

Reminder to NFA Member Firms As part of the annual processes and procedures NFA Members will need to make sure that they complete the NFA Annual Questionnaire.  As discussed below in the NFA’s most recent notice to members, it is important that NFA Members complete the questionnaire because some of [...]

The securities laws can be written obtusely and the definition of a qualified eligible person (QEP) may be one of the best examples of this.  There is no quick and easy definition of a what a QEP is so we are trying to make it as easy as possible to [...]

By Bart Mallon, Esq. (www.colefrieman.com) “Purchased Lead Lists and How to Use Them” A good resource for CTAs that are actively trying to raise money are lead lists – lists of names and contact information of potential future clients or investors.  This overview is for the CTA Expo 2009 program [...]

By Bart Mallon, Esq. (www.colefrieman.com) “Compliance in a Changing Environment” As we are all well aware both the investing and the regulatory environments have experienced a dramatic refocusing on compliance and related issues in the wake of the 2008 meltdown and the Bernie Madoff affair.  This overview is for the [...]

By Bart Mallon, Esq. (www.colefrieman.com) Marketing for Small CTAs For small commodity trading advisory (CTA) firms, marketing and advertising the expertise of the principals is a central way to gain new clients and make more money.  This overview is for the CTA Expo 2009 program entitled Marketing for Small CTAs. [...]

Futures Industry Association Annual Expo CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler today spoke at the Futures Industry Association’s annual expo in Chicago. While most of the Chairman’s speech  focused on the proposed regulation of the OTC derivatives markets, Chairman Gensler also discussed the recent SEC and CFTC Harmonization report. As you can [...]

Commodity Trading Advisor Conference Next week there will be a conference for Commodity Trading Advisors held in Chicago at the Hotel Monaco.  The conference, entitled the CTA Expo 2009, will be held on Wednesday and will feature a variety of topics of interest to CTAs.  The agenda includes: Continental Breakfast [...]

Practical guidance for CTA and CPO firms Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) and Commodity Pool Operators (CPOs) have been contacting me with greater regularity and we have decided to provide those firms with more detailed information on their registration and compliance requirements. Over the course of the next few weeks we [...]

CPOs Prohibited From Taking Loans From Commodity Hedge Funds The CFTC just recently approved a new NFA compliance rule which prohibits commodity pool operators (CPOs) from taking loans from the commodity pools which they manage. Additionally, if a CPO currently has some sort of a loan arrangement with their fund, [...]