CFTC Staff Letter 00-15: Exemption from Rule 4.33 Books and Records Location Requirement for Registered CTA

00-15
CFTC Letter No. 00-15
January 28, 2000
Exemption
Division of Trading & Markets
Re: Request for Relief from Books and Records Location Requirement of Rule 4.33 Dear :
This is in response to your letter dated September 27, 1999 to the Division of Trading and Markets ("Division") of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("Commission"), as supplemented by your letters dated October 15, 1999 and January 11, 2000 and telephone conversations with Division staff. By your correspondence, you request that the Division exempt "X", a registered commodity trading advisor ("CTA"), from the requirement of Rule 4.33 that a registered CTA must maintain certain books and records at its main business office in accordance with Rule 1.31.1 Based upon the representations made in your correspondence, we understand the facts to be as follows. "X's" main business office is located in Arizona at the residence of its sole principal and associated person, "A".2 "A" also maintains an office at a residence in Canada.3 He divides his time approximately evenly between these two residences. All accounts managed by "X" will be carried on the books of "Y", a registered futures commission merchant ("FCM") located in Illinois.4 You request that "X" be exempted from the location requirement of Rule 4.33, so that it may maintain the records required by the rule at "Y's" offices in Illinois. In support of your request, you represent that "X" will amend its form 7-R filing to reflect this arrangement, and will disclose in its Disclosure Documents the location of all books and records required to be kept by Rule
4.33. You have also submitted "Y's" consent to this arrangement.
Based upon the foregoing, it appears that granting your request would not be contrary to the public interest or the purposes of Rule 4.33. Accordingly, by the authority delegated under Rule 140.93(a)(1), the Division exempts "X" from the location requirement of Rule
4.33 so that "X" may maintain the records at "Y's" offices, as described above. This
exemption is, however, subject to the conditions that: (1) "X" will notify the Division if file:///S|/Website%20Management/LegacyDataCopyasof2010-04-21/tm/letters/00letters/tm00-15.htm (1 of 3) [5/6/2010 6:18:37 PM]