Chief Compliance Officer Requirements Become Effective for All FCMs on March 29, 2013
As we notified Members in Notice I-12-21, the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) requirements under CFTC Regulation 3.3 became effective on October 1, 2012 for FCMs that are regulated by a prudential regulator or that are also in some capacity registrants of the SEC.
The compliance date for all other FCMs is March 29, 2013. Therefore, all FCMs not subject to the October 1, 2012 compliance date must designate a CCO and that person must be listed as a principal of the FCM by March 29, 2013. Those FCMs subject to the March 29, 2013 effective date will be required to file the CCO Annual Report as of the date of the firm's first fiscal year end after March 29, 2013. 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 and including the job title of CCO on the Principal List page. 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 March 29, 2013.
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 entire fiscal year. 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 Members
Although IB, CPO and CTA Members are not required by CFTC Regulation 3.3 to have a designated CCO, if the firm appoints a person as CCO, then that 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.
