Annual Report Guidance for Commodity Pool Operators In a recent release, which we have reprinted in full below, the CFTC reminds CPOs of their annual reporting requirements under Regulation 4.22.  The release includes a link to the 2010 CPO Annual Guidance Letter.  In general the letter provides another reminder to [...]

Translating a Disclosure Document to Another Language is Fine NFA Member Firms are required to have their disclosure documents reviewed by the NFA generally before such firms can distribute the documents to potential investors.  One issue which sometimes arises is when the firm (generally either a CTA or CPO) has [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]