Pursuant to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations, persons claiming an exemption or exclusion from registration as a commodity pool operator (CPO) or a commodity trading advisor (CTA), under CFTC Regulations 4.5, 4.13(a)(1), 4.13(a)(2), 4.13(a)(3), 4.13(a)(5) or 4.14(a)(8), must affirm their eligibility for such exemption or exclusion on an annual basis, within 60 days of the calendar year end. Failure to affirm the relevant exemption or exclusion within 60 days of the calendar year end results in automatic withdrawal of the exemption or exclusion, which would then subject a person to all applicable CPO or CTA compliance requirements, regardless of whether such person remains eligible for the exemption/exclusion.
For the calendar year that ended on December 31, 2013, the deadline for affirming an exemption or exclusion that has been claimed pursuant to one of the applicable CFTC regulations is March 3, 2014.
Affected persons may complete the annual affirmation via the National Futures Association’s (NFA) Exemptions Filing System. The NFA issued guidance concerning the annual affirmation of eligibility for certain exemptions and exclusions from CPO and CTA registration.