CFTC Approves New Financial Rules Submitted by the NFA to Strengthen the Protection of Customer Funds Held by Futures Commission Merchants (CFTC Press Release)

The CFTC approved new financial rules submitted by the NFA that are intended to improve protections to customer funds held by futures commission merchants (FCMs). The new financial rules are set forth in NFA Financial Requirements Section 16, and an Interpretive Notice entitled "NFA Financial Requirements Section 16 FCM Financial Practices and Excess Segregated Funds/Secured Amount Disbursements." The rule changes adopted by the CFTC/NFA may resolve problems of the MF Global type, where the cause of the shortfall may have been permitted under-segregation of customer funds, but would not address the Peregrine problem, which was apparently a fraud. See generally, Guide to CPO/CTA Regulation, Insolvency Chapter.

View release in full here(links externally to CFTC website).