Leverage, Inaccessibility for Smaller Traders, and Offshore Threat are Focus of Public Comments As we’ve discussed in related posts, the CFTC has proposed rules regulating the off-exchange spot forex industry (see Retail FOREX Registration Regulations Proposed).  The CFTC has requested comments from the public and there are currently about 100 public comments [...]

As we discussed in an earlier post on NFA Annual Questionnaire, NFA Member Firms are required to complete the questionnaire on an annual basis.  The information helps the NFA in a variety of ways and the NFA encourages members to update their questionnaire on a regular basis, although firms are only [...]

Audience Reacts Positively to James Allen Smith’s Documentary on Chicago Floor Trading On Thursday evening at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco, the professional women’s organization 100 Women in Hedge Funds sponsored the showing of Floored, a documentary by ex-floor trader James Allen Smith that offers a peek inside the lives, [...]

Forex Managers Required to be Registered Under New Regulations The much anticipated off-exchange retail foreign currency regulations were proposed today by the CFTC.  The release announcing the publication in the Federal Register is reprinted below and can be found here.  We will be providing an overview of the major provisions [...]

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 [...]

By Bart Mallon, Esq. (www.colefrieman.com) State Securities Agency Calls PAMM Accounts Securities Forex investment managers who offer forex separately managed account programs need to be aware of the risks of offering trading programs which use PAMM accounts.  PAMM accounts are functionally equivalent to “bunched” or “batched” order master accounts which [...]

Answers Regarding Prohibition of Hedging Spot Forex Transactions (www.hedgefundlawblog.com)  The NFA has certainly taken a lot of heat over its controversial rule to ban the practice of “hedging” in a single spot forex account.  Many retail investors have already begun establishing brokerage accounts offshore in order to utilize this trading [...]

NFA Compliance Rule 2-43 Outlaws Forex “Hedging” For NFA Registered Forex Dealers (www.hedgefundlawblog.com) The new forex regulations have affected the industry in a number of ways.  Rule 2-43 especially has been a source of ire for some forex managers who have utilized a “hedging strategy” as part of their investment [...]

Overview of Series 30 Exam The Series 30 exam is a National Futures Association sponsored exam which is required for those persons who are branch office managers of a NFA member firm (see our post on CPO and CTA Branch Office Information).  Generally if a NFA Member firm (such as [...]

[http://www.hedgefundlawblog.com] No New Information on Forex Regulations I have been getting more and more questions regarding forex registration and unfortunately I have not had much to say because there has been little information coming from the CFTC.  The NFA has done a good job of anticipating what those rules will [...]