On January 11, National Futures Association (NFA) issued Notice I-17-02, which reminds NFA members of their obligations with respect to commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs) exempt from registration. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission requires any person claiming an exemption from CPO registration under CFTC Regulation 4.13(a)(1), 4.13(a)(2), 4.13(a)(3), 4.13(a)(5), an exclusion from CPO registration under Regulation 4.5, or an exemption from CTA registration under Regulation 4.14(a)(8) to affirm the applicable notice of exemption annually within 60 days of the calendar year end. Failure to complete the affirmation process is considered a request to withdraw from the exemption and, therefore, entities that do not affirm may be required to be registered with the CFTC and become NFA Members.

Members that take reasonable steps to determine the registration and membership status of a previously exempt person will not violate NFA Bylaw 1101 or Compliance Rule 2-36(d) if that member transacts customer business between January 1 and March 31 with a previously exempt person under the circumstances described in the notice.

The full notice is available here.