CFTC Staff Letter 01-08: No-Action Positions for CPO and CTA Registration Regarding Pension Plan Group Trusts and Insurance Accounts

01-08
CFTC Letter No. 01-08
August 11, 2000
No-Action
Division of Trading & Markets
Re: Section 4m(1) -- Request for CPO and CTA Registration No-Action Positions Dear :
This is in reference to your letter dated August 19, 1999 to the Division of Trading and Markets (the "Division") of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "Commission"), as supplemented by your letters dated March 31, 2000 and June 19, 2000 and by telephone conversations with Division staff. By your correspondence you request on behalf of "P" assurance that the Division will not recommend that the Commission commence any enforcement action based upon the failure of "P" to register under
Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act (the "Act")1
as a commodity pool operator ("CPO") or as a commodity trading advisor ("CTA") in connection with managing an array of pension and retirement plans, an insurance company general account and a group pension trust. Based upon the representations made in your correspondence, we understand the facts to be as follows. "P" is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of "Q", and it is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") under the Investment Advisers Act of 19402 as an investment adviser. "P" is a named fiduciary or fiduciary (as such terms are defined in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA")) of each of the employee benefit plans that participate in the "Group Trust". Each plan in the Group Trust is sponsored by "Q" or a "Q" subsidiary or affiliate, except that on _______ several plan sponsors became unaffiliated with "Q" when "R" was spun-off by "Q". In addition to the Group Trust, "P" advises and chooses managers for the general account of "S", a state￾regulated insurance company. "P" chooses managers for the "T" Trust which contains assets of one ERISA welfare benefit plan. "P" advises two Canadian defined benefit pension plans: (the "Canadian Plans"). "P" advises the "U", a trust established in the United Kingdom, accepting participation by trustees of U.K tax approved pension plans sponsored by current or former "Q" affiliates or subsidiaries. In connection with the advisory services that "P" provides to each of the foregoing entities, it conducts futures and commodity options trading, selects managers to conduct commodity interest trading and/or provides certain commodity interest trading advice. In the future, you anticipate that plans sponsored by entities unaffiliated with "Q" other than "R" or "R" file:///S|/Website%20Management/LegacyDataCopyasof2010-04-21/tm/letters/01letters/tm01-08.htm (1 of 5) [5/6/2010 6:12:40 PM]