On February 12th, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (the “Division”) of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued CFTC Letter No. 16-08.  This no-action letter clarifies that an intermediary located outside of the United States (a “Foreign Intermediary”) will not need to register as commodity pool operator (“CPO”), a commodity trading advisor (“CTA”), or an introducing broker (“IB”), as long as the following conditions are met:

  1. The Foreign Intermediary is located outside the United States; and
  2. The Foreign Intermediary acts only on behalf of  persons located outside the United States.

This posting provides additional information in respect of this no-action letter, which we expect will be of interest to non-U.S. hedge funds and investment advisers that use CFTC-regulated derivatives in connection with their investment strategies.
Continue Reading Attention Non-U.S. Funds and Advisers: Registration Exemption for Offshore CPOs, CTAs and IBs That Use Non-Cleared Derivatives