MFA and Others File Petition for Rulemaking to Amend Certain CPO/CTA Recordkeeping Requirements (with Mehta Comment)

MFA, the Investment Adviser Association, and the Alternative Investment Management Association (the "Associations") collectively submitted a petition to the CFTC to amend certain CPO/CTA recordkeeping requirements. Specifically, the Associations' petition proposes to:

• amend CFTC Rule 1.31 in order to provide relief regarding certain electronic recordkeeping requirements for CPOs and CTAs, including the requirement to use a third-party technical consultant;
• amend CFTC Rule 4.7(b) and Rule 4.23, recordkeeping requirements generally applicable to CPOs, to expand the list of permissible third-party entities that may maintain records and to remove the certification requirement by the relevant third-party service provider;
• amend CFTC Rule 4.7(c) and Rule 4.33, recordkeeping requirements generally applicable to CTAs, to permit a CTA to retain any third party as a recordkeeper (consistent with the amendments requested for CPOs.)

The Associations also request temporary no-action relief until final rules relating to the petition are adopted and become effective.

Mehta Comment: As the petition notes, the proposed changes would reflect actual market practices, which in fact are more in line with the purposes of the various rules' requirements than are the actual terms of the rules.

See: Petition for Rulemaking.