The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved a plan to simplify regulations for commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs).
The new rules would effectively ban individuals who are legally disqualified from operating investment pools. Further, the changes would streamline registration requirements for CPOs that operate in multiple jurisdictions. The changes are in line with CFTC’s Project KISS initiative, which was established to modernize and simplify the agency’s regulations to make them less burdensome and costly.
The new rules also call for investment advisers of business development companies to be treated under the same terms as investment advisers for registered investment companies. This would help harmonize rules with comparable regulators by channeling Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations in providing registration relief to CPOs and CTAs whose clients are limited to a single family.
“I’m pleased my fellow commissioners supported today’s proposal, which I hope is the first of a series of long overdue simplifications to Part 4 regulations,” CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo said. “These proposed amendments are common sense changes that cut the regulatory mandates on CPOs and CTAs, while simultaneously promoting consumer confidence in the market. We look forward to working with the public to ensure these rules are adopted and implemented in an effective and transparent method.”