The CFTC final rule amendments incorporating staff guidance on CPO and CTA registration and reporting requirements were published (see here and here) in the Federal Register. The final rules will become effective on January 9, 2019.
As previously covered, the CFTC adopted:
- CPO and CTA registration exemptions for qualifying family offices, in line with the SEC exclusion from investment adviser registration under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940;
- JOBS Act amendments permitting the general solicitation of offerings in private pools that are operated under the "registration-lite" regime of CFTC Rule 4.7 and the limited derivatives trading exemption in CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(3);
- an exclusion from CPO registration for investment advisers to business development companies ("BDCs") in CFTC Rule 4.5, subject to the same conditions as for investment advisers to SEC-registered investment companies ("RICs");
- an amendment to clarify that "non-United States persons," as defined in CFTC Rule 4.7, are eligible to invest in commodity pools operated under CFTC Rule 4.13(a)(3); and
- exemptions from reporting on Forms CPO-PQR and CTA-PR for CFTC-registered CPOs and CTAs that exclusively operate pools or advise accounts in accordance with an exemption from registration.
Additionally, the CFTC clarified that the appropriate entity to claim an exclusion from CPO registration under CFTC Rule 4.5, with respect to a RIC, is the RIC's investment adviser. Also with respect to a RIC, if an entity other than the RIC's investment adviser has currently filed a notice of eligibility to claim the exclusion from CPO registration under CFTC Rule 4.5, the RIC's investment adviser must file the requisite notice by March 1, 2021 to claim the exclusion as the RIC's designated CPO under the amended rule. Investment advisers to BDCs should, however, make the requisite Rule 4.5 filings "as soon as practicable" after the amendments go into effect.
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