Notice to Members I-12-21
September 14, 2012
Chief Compliance Officer Requirements Become Effective for Certain FCMs on October 1, 2012
Effective October 1, 2012, FCMs that are currently regulated by a U.S. prudential regulator or that are also in some capacity registrants of the Securities and Exchange Commission must have a designated Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) under CFTC Regulation 3.3, and that person must also be a listed principal of the firm. In addition, those FCMs will be required to file the CCO Annual Report as of the date of the firm's first fiscal year end after October 1, 2012. This notice contains important information about listing with NFA the firm's CCO as a principal and the filing of the CCO Annual Report.
Designating a Chief Compliance Officer
If the designated CCO is not a listed current principal of the FCM, the FCM must file a CFTC Form 8-R for that individual, along with a set of fingerprint cards, and the designated CCO must verify the accuracy of the Form 8-R.
The FCM must also update its Form 7-R by completing the CCO Contact Information Section for the CCO. The Form 7-R must be updated to include information for a newly listed CCO principal and a designated CCO who is already listed as a principal of the firm.
All forms must be completed through NFA's Online Registration System, which may be accessed at http://www.nfa.futures.org/NFA-electronic-filings/ORS.HTML. FCMs are encouraged to file Form 8-R and the required fingerprint cards for new principals as soon as possible to ensure that the process is completed prior to October 1.
Annual Report
The FCM's CCO is required to prepare an annual report as outlined in CFTC Regulation 3.3(e). The first Annual Report must be prepared as of the date of the FCM's fiscal year end and must cover the period from October 1, 2012 through the date of the fiscal year end. The Annual Report must be submitted electronically to the CFTC through the WinjammerTM system not more than 90 days after the end of the FCM's fiscal year. In order to file the annual report through the WinjammerTM system, the FCM must create a "Regulation Notice" in the filing index section of WinjammerTM as of the date of the report and then select the Chief Compliance Officer Report filing type. After selecting the appropriate notice, the FCM must upload a PDF of the report.
CCO Requirement for other FCMs and other NFA Members
All other FCMs (i.e. FCMs that are not currently regulated by a U.S. prudential regulator or that are not also in some capacity registrants of the Securities and Exchange Commission) must comply with the CCO requirement by March 29, 2013. IB, CPO and CTA Members are not required to have a designated CCO. However, if the firm appoints a person as a CCO, then the person must be a listed principal of the firm.
If you have any questions on this process, please contact NFA's Information Center at 800-621-3570 or 312-781-1410.