CFTC Regulation 1.31 on Recordkeeping
Summary
SIFMA AMG and Other Associations provided comments to the CFTC on recordkeeping. The Associations strongly support the Commission’s goals underlying the Proposed Rule and appreciate the Commission’s efforts to modernize CFTC Regulation 1.31 by endeavoring to amend it in a technology-neutral manner, which we believe are consistent with the Acting Chairman Giancarlo’s public statements and in the spirit of the Trump Administration’s directives.
We offer several recommendations for further revisions to CFTC Regulation 1.31 that would preserve the Commission’s objectives in a manner that would be less burdensome and less costly for CPOs, CTAs, and other entities subject to regulation by the Commission, while imposing only those requirements that create substantial additional benefits. We have also recommended specific revisions to the text of the Proposed Rule, which are shown in Appendix A to this letter.
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Excerpt
Christopher Kirkpatrick
Secretary
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20581
Re: Recordkeeping; RIN 3038–AE36
Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick:
Managed Funds Association (“MFA”), the Investment Adviser Association (“IAA”), the Alternative Investment Management Association (“AIMA”), and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s Asset Management Group (“AMG”) (collectively, the “Associations”)1 appreciate the opportunity to provide comments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission” or “CFTC”) on its proposed amendments to CFTC Regulation 1.31 (“Proposed Rule”),2 which sets forth recordkeeping obligations for records required to be kept under the Commodity Exchange Act (“Act”) and the Commission’s regulations thereunder.
The Associations collectively represent a broad segment of the domestic and global investment management industry, advising funds and separate accounts. Our members include investment managers and sub-advisers that are: registered with the SEC as investment advisers; registered with the Commission as commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) and/or commodity trading advisors (“CTAs”); subject to an exclusion or exemption from registration as CPOs or CTAs; and/or registered with a regulator outside of the United States. Our members engage in varying levels of trading in commodity interests and, thus, are subject to compliance with applicable provisions of the Act and Commission regulations thereunder. As such, the Associations’ members have a keen interest in, and express their general support for, the Commission’s efforts to modernize and make technology-neutral the form and manner in which regulatory records are kept under CFTC Regulation 1.31, subject to the recommendations outlined below.
At the outset, the Associations strongly commend the Commission for its willingness to respond to industry concerns about a rule that has become unworkable and obsolete, and to propose
a new rule that strives to modernize the Commission’s recordkeeping requirements. Although this letter outlines particular concerns with the Proposed Rule, we wish to reiterate our support for the Commission’s thoughtful efforts to modernize its recordkeeping rule so that CPOs and CTAs may keep records using modern and evolving technology.