Commodity Futures Trading Commission 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected costs and burden; it includes the actual data collection instruments (if any).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on rules related to risk disclosure concerning exchanged traded commodity options.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') is amending its regulations regarding investment of customer funds and related recordkeeping requirements. The amendments address standards for investing in instruments with certain features, requirements for adjustable rate securities, concentration limits on reverse repurchase agreements (``reverse repos''), transactions by futures commission merchants (``FCMs'') that are also registered as securities broker- dealers (``FCM/BDs''), rating standards and registration requirement for money market mutual funds (``MMMFs''), the auditability standard for investment records, and certain technical changes. Among those technical changes is an amendment to the Commission's recordkeeping rules in connection with repurchase agreements (``repos'') and proposed transactions by FCM/BDs.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) is amending Commission regulation 150.2 to increase the speculative position limit levels for all single-month and all-months-combined positions subject to such limits. In addition, the Commission is making other clarifying amendments concerning the aggregation of positions when a Designated Contract Market (DCM) trades two or more contracts with substantially identical terms, and is deleting several obsolete provisions in part 150 that relate to contracts that are no longer listed for trading or to DCMs that no longer exist.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments on large trade reports.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is amending Rule 1.55 to provide that non-institutional customers may indicate with a single signature, in addition to the acknowledgment of receipt of various disclosures and the making of certain elections, the consent referenced in Rules 155.3(b)(2) and 155.4(b)(2) and 155.4(b)(2) concerning customer permission for futures commission merchants (``FCMs'') and introducing brokers (``IBs'') to take the opposite side of an order. The Commission is also amending Rule 1.55(f) to specify that the acknowledgments required by Rules 155.3(b)(2) and 155.4(b)(2) are not required of institutional customers when they open an account.

Section 4d(a)(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'') and related Commission regulations (hereinafter collectively referred to as ``segregation requirements'') require that, among other things, all funds deposited with a futures commission merchant (``FCM'') to purchase, margin, guarantee, or secure futures or commodity options transactions and all accruals thereon (``customer funds'' or ``customer margin'') be accounted for separately, be held for the benefit of customers and deposited under an account name that clearly identifies them as such, and not be commingled with the FCM's own funds,\1\ Further, the Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight (``Division'') has construed these provisions to prohibit any impediments or restrictions upon an FCM's ability to obtain immediate access to customer funds.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected costs and burden; it includes the actual data collection instruments (if any).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') is authorizing the National Futures Association (``NFA'') to confirm exemptive relief to certain firms acting in the capacity of a futures commission merchant (``FCM'') that are subject to regulation by a foreign futures authority or that are members of a foreign self- regulatory organization (``SRO'') in a particular jurisdiction to which an order under Commission Rule 30.10 has been issued, notwithstanding that such firms may be subject, in part, to joint regulation by a second regulator or SRO in another jurisdiction. The Commission previously authorized NFA to confirm exemptive relief solely to firms subject to regulation by a single foreign futures authority or that are members of a foreign SRO. This Order extends the scope of that authority. The Commission also is authorizing NFA to maintain records pertaining to the functions described in this Order and to serve as the official custodian of those Commission records.