CFTC Staff Letter 14-69: Streamlined Approach for CPO Registration No-Action Relief on Delegation

U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581
Telephone: (202) 418-6700
Facsimile: (202) 418-5547 gbarnett@cftc.gov
Division of Swap Dealer and
Intermediary Oversight
Gary Barnett
Director
CFTC Staff Letter No. 14-69
Other Written Communication
May 12, 2014
Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight Re: Requesting Registration No-Action Relief on an Expedited Basis for Commodity Pool Operators who Delegate Certain Activities to a Registered Commodity Pool Operator under Certain Circumstances
I. Introduction.
The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (“DSIO” or “Division”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) has received numerous requests over the past several years asking that the Division provide no-action relief in accordance with Commission Regulation 140.991 for failure to register as a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) under Commodity Exchange Act ( “Act” or “CEA”) Section 4m(1) if another person would serve as the registered CPO of the commodity pool at issue in lieu of the requesting CPO. Generally, the requests seek registration no-action relief for a CPO that has delegated investment management authority as a CPO of a commodity pool (“Delegating CPO”) to another person who is registered as a CPO (“Designated CPO”), and the Delegating CPO does not engage in the solicitation of participants for, or the management of property of, the applicable commodity pool. The Division has previously received and considered such requests for individual CPOs and where certain facts were present, and subject to certain conditions, staff issued the requested relief. 2 1 Regulation 140.99 governs requests for staff exemptive, no-action and interpretative letters. The Commission’s regulations are found at 17 C.F.R. Part 1 et seq. (2013). They may be accessed through the Commission’s website, www.cftc.gov. 2 See, e.g., CFTC Staff Letters No. 13-20, 12-24, 11-01, 10-06, 09-44, 07-19, 06-12, 05-11, 04-20, 03-02, 02-21, 01-07, 00-82, 99-30, 98-04, 97-11, 96-66, 95-80, 94-69, and 93-50. Each Staff Letter referred to in this letter is available on the Commission’s website. This letter does not affect the efficacy of any prior Staff Letters issued by the Division with respect to CPO registration relief for a Delegating CPO.