Part 30 of the Commission's regulations establishes the regulatory structure governing the offer and sale in the United States of futures and options contracts made or to be made on or subject to the rules of a foreign board of trade. Section 30.10 of these regulations provides that, upon petition, the Commission may exempt any person from any requirement of this part. Specifically, section 30.10 states:

Any person adversely affected by any requirement of this part may file a petition with the Secretary of the Commission, which petition must set forth with particularity the reasons why that person believes that he should be exempt from such requirement. The Commission may, in its discretion, grant such an exemption if that person demonstrates to the Commission's satisfaction that the exemption is not otherwise contrary to the public interest or to the purposes of the provision from which exemption is sought. The petition will be granted or denied on the basis of the papers filed. The petition may be granted subject to such terms and conditions as the Commission may find appropriate.

As the provisions of this section make clear, any person subject to regulation under part 30 may petition the Commission for an exemption. In adopting these regulations, however, the Commission noted in particular that persons located outside the United States that solicit or accept orders directly from United States customers for foreign futures or options transactions and that are subject to a comparable regulatory scheme in the country in which they are located may apply under section 30.10 for exemption from some or all of the requirements that would otherwise be applicable to such persons. This interpretative statement sets forth the elements that the Commission intends to evaluate in determining whether a particular regulatory program may be found to be comparable to the Commission's program.

The Commission wishes to emphasize, however, that this interpretative statement is not all inclusive, and that information with respect to other aspects of a particular regulatory program may be submitted by a petitioner or requested by the Commission. In this connection, the Commission would have broad discretion to determine that the policies of any program element generally are met, notwithstanding the fact that the offshore program does not contain an element identical to that of the Commission's regulatory program and conversely may assess how particular elements are in fact applied by offshore authorities. Thus, for example, in order to find that a particular program is comparable, the regulations thereunder would have to be applicable to all United States customers, notwithstanding any exemptions that might otherwise be available to particular classes of customer located offshore. A petitioner, therefore, must set forth with particularity the factual basis for a finding of comparability and the reasons why such policies and purposes are met, notwithstanding differences of degree and kind in its regulatory program.

No exemptions of a general nature will be granted unless the persons to which the exemption is to be applied consent to submit to jurisdiction in the United States by designating an agent for service of process pursuant to the provisions of rule 30.5 with respect to any activities of such persons otherwise subject to regulation under this part and to notify the National Futures Association of the commencement or termination of business in the United States. In this connection, to be exempted, such person must further agree to respond to a request to confirm that it continues to do business in the United States.

Persons located outside the United States may seek an exemption on their own behalf or an exemption may be sought on a general basis through the governmental agency responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the regulatory program in question, or the self-regulatory organizations of which such persons are members. The appropriate petitioner is a matter of judgment and may be determined by the parties seeking the exemption. The Commission, however, notes that it will be able to address petitions more efficiently if they are filed by the governmental agency or self-regulatory organization responsible for the regulatory program.

In this connection, as will be discussed in more detail below, any exemption of a general nature based on comparability will be conditioned upon appropriate information sharing arrangements between the Commission and the relevant governmental agency and/or self-regulatory organization. Representations from the appropriate governmental agency with respect to the applicability of any blocking statutes that may prevent the sharing of information requested under private arrangements would also be considered. Finally, in considering an exemption request, the Commission will take into account the extent to which United States persons or contracts regulated by the Commission are permitted to engage in futures-related activities or be offered in the country from which an exemption is sought.

In the Commission's review, the minimum elements of a comparable regulatory program would include: (1) Registration, authorization or other form of licensing, fitness review or qualification of persons through which customer orders are solicited and accepted; (2) minimum financial requirements for those persons that accept customer funds; (3) protection of customer funds from misapplication; (4) recordkeeping and reporting requirements; (5) minimum sales practice standards, including disclosure of the risks of futures and opotions transactions and, in particular, the risk of transactions undertaken outside the jurisdiction of domestic law; and (6) compliance.

Qualification. Under domestic law, registration identifies to the Commission, the public and other governmental agencies the individuals and entities that are properly authorized to solicit and accept customer orders and are in good standing. Equally important, the procedure provides the Commission, through the National Futures Association, the opportunity to determine whether applicants are unfit to deal with the public. In this connection, the standards for determining whether a person through its principals is fit for registration with the Commission are set forth in section 8a(2)-8a(4) of the Act. Timely access to information as to a firm's good standing and the application by relevant authorities of membership and licensing criteria, as well as the criteria themselves, will be considered by the Commission in assessing comparability.

Minimum Financial Requirements. Minimum financial requirements for persons that handle customer funds serve at least three critical functions. First, they provide a cushion together with margin such that in the event of a default of a customer, the losses of that customer need not adversely affect the funds held on behalf of other customers. Second, they help ensure that the person has sufficient funds to operate its business and, therefore, is less likely to be tempted to misapply customer funds for its own purposes. Third, they ensure that the person holding customer funds has some financial stake in its business and, therefore, is serious in its intent. In assessing comparability, capital rules or their equivalent will be considered together with any provisions made for insuring customer losses, the scope of clearing guarantees and segregation or customer trust calculation and accounting requirements which, to the extent they cover undermargined accounts, can provide significant protection of one customer from another customer's losses.

Customer Funds. The Act requires the strict segregation of customer funds from those of the person holding such funds. One of the primary purposes of this requirement is to prevent the misapplication of those funds for purposes other than those intended by the customer, which may affect not only the customer but the market as a whole. The purpose of segregation is also to identify customer deposits as assets of the customer, rather than the firm, in order that in bankruptcy such funds are payable only to satisfy the carrying firm's obligations to such customers and not other obligations of the firm. In assessing comparability of protection of customer funds, the Commission will consider protections accorded customer funds in a bankruptcy under applicable law, as well as protection from fraud.

Recordkeeping and Reporting. Recordkeeping requirements have long been recognized as the linchpin of the Commission's regulatory scheme. Reporting and recordkeeping requirements assist in determining that a registrant is acting in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the rules, regulations and orders of the Commission thereunder. Similarly, reporting requirements ensure that customers are timely advised of the transactions that have been executed on their behalf, thus ensuring that they are aware of their positions in the markets and may object to any transactions that they believe are in error. The Commission will consider the types of records maintained, the ability through those records to trace funds and transactions, and the period of retention and accessibility of records under the information sharing arrangements discussed below in considering comparability.

Sales Practice Standards. In 1982, Congress reaffirmed the importance of minimum sales practice standards to protect customers from fraud or misrepresentation by requiring any futures association registered by the Commission to adopt and enforce rules governing the sales practices of its members. The Commission has consistently provided that written disclosure of the risks of futures and options trading is essential to ensure that potential customers are aware of these risks and are not otherwise misled and that other appropriate disclosure is made. The Commission will review the type and manner of disclosure given and the mechanisms for assuring the disclosure requirements are met and, in particular, the treatment of discretionary accounts for which, for example, Commission rule 166.2 requires particularized documentation of intent to confer discretion in the case of foreign futures and options transactions.

Compliance. Finally, in assessing comparability of a program, the Commission will examine the procedures employed by the governmental authority or the appropriate self-regulatory organization to audit for compliance with, and to take action as appropriate against those persons that violate, the requirements of that program.

Information Sharing. As noted above, any exemption of a general nature would also require an information sharing arrangement between the Commission and the appropriate governmental or self-regulatory organization to ensure Commission access to information on an as needed basis as may be necessary to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities. The information subject to these arrangements generally would be of a type necessary in the first instance to monitor domestic markets and to protect domestic customers trading on foreign markets.

Firm-specific information that is potentially relevant to protection of domestic customers engaged in foreign transactions could include the following: (1) Registration qualification status; (2) names of principals; (3) current capital; (4) location of customer funds; (5) address of main office and branches; (6) exchange and self-regulatory organization memberships; (7) the existence of any derogatory information such as that required to be disclosed on the Commission's Form 7-R; (8) notice of limitations imposed on activities; (9) notice of undersegregation or undercapitalization; (10) notice of misuse of customer funds; and (11) notice of sanctions or of expulsion from exchange or self-regulatory organization membership. The Commission believes that much of the above information would be public in the ordinary course in most jurisdictions. From time to time, the Commission also may need immediate access to financial information concerning risks posed to domestic firms by the carrying of foreign positions.

In addition to information that relates to the financial stability and creditworthiness of the firm, the Commission should have access to transaction-specific information that confirms the execution of orders and prices and facilitates tracing of customer funds. Such data could include records reflecting: (1) That an order has been received by a firm on behalf of one or more United States customers; (2) that an order has been executed on an exchange on behalf of one or more United States customers; (3) that funds to margin, guarantee or secure United States customer transactions have been received by a firm and deposited in an appropriate depository; and (4) the price at which a transaction was executed and general access to pricing information.

Again, such information is likely to be maintained in the ordinary course of business. Tracing of customer funds would be most essential in cases of insolvency where repatriation of funds is at issue.

The Commission may also seek relevant position data information, including the identity of the position holder and related positions, in connection with surveillance of a potential “market disruption.” This is particularly true in the case of integrated markets.

The Commission wishes to emphasize that the information sharing arrangements discussed herein are not necessarily a substitute for, nor would they preclude, a more formal agreement or arrangement with respect to the sharing of information.

FR date and citation: November 3, 1992, 57 FR 49644; August 17, 1994, 59 FR 42158.