In late January 2014, the National Futures Association (“NFA”) announced to its membership they were considering requiring Commodity Pool Operators (CPO’s) and Commodity Trading Advisors (CTA’s) to have minimum net capital requirements similar to what the clearing firms (FCM’s) and Introducing Brokers (IB’s) have:
“…reviewing the current regulatory structure applicable to Commodity Pool Operator (“CPO”) and Commodity Trading Advisor (“CTA”) operations. In particular, NFA is looking at ways to strengthen the regulatory structure governing CPO operations to provide greater protection for customer funds… [and] exploring ways to ensure that CPOs and CTAs have sufficient assets to operate as a going concern.”
The review of the CTA/CPO regulatory structure also includes possible measures such as the verification of CPO fund balances similar to what is done now for FCM’s, and the possibility of requiring all CPO’s to use third party administrators, or at least have a third party approve all movement of money out of funds.
These are wide ranging possible changes, and every CTA/CPO should consider how these changes might affect their business, especially how their costs might increase, and whether that increase in cost would actually do anything to strengthen customer protections. The deadline for submitting comments is fast approaching, and we urge any and all CPO’s and CTA’s out there to get their comments in before tax day, April 15th. Email the comments to CPOandCTAfeedback@nfa.futures.org with the specific answers and commentary they are looking for here:
We won’t bore you with our full response, which is likely a little too much ‘inside baseball’ for most. But here’s some questions to ponder before writing up your comments (and please do, CPO’s/CTA’s).
1. Should CTA’s and CPO’s be lumped together in this? CTA’s do not hold customer funds.
2. Did capital requirements help at all in the case of Griffin Trading, Refco, Sentinel, MF Global, and PFG?
3. What will it cost you to have a third party administrator for your fund? Are your investors willing to bear that cost? Do they feel the need for greater protections?
4. What sort of certification would an admin need to be qualified to perform this role if mandated by NFA? What sort of slippery slope are we headed down if this new requirement create the need for admins to register, a new class of NFA member, new fees, new dues, etc.?
5. How would the NFA verify hard to value assets held by CPO’s which do only nominal futures trading but are required to be registered as a CPO?
6. Is this even a problem? Are customers of your CTA/CPO asking you about protections, are they worried that your insolvency can cause them problems?