2016-21153. Commodity Pool Operator Annual Report

AGENCY:

Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION:

Notice of proposed rulemaking; extension of comment period.

SUMMARY:

On August 5, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposal) to amend certain of its regulations applicable to the Annual Report that each person registered or required to be registered as a commodity pool operator (CPO) must distribute for each commodity pool that it operates. As is explained below, the Commission is extending for two weeks the comment period for the Proposal.

DATES:

The comment period for the Proposal published on August 5, 2016, at 81 FR 51828, is extended until September 20, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by RIN 3038-AE47 and “Commodity Pool Operator Annual Report,” by any of the following methods:

• CFTC Web site: http://comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments through the Comments Online process on the Web site.
• Mail: Send to Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail, above.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

Please submit your comments using only one of these methods.

All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied by an English translation. Comments will be posted as received to www.cftc.gov. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider information that may be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a petition for confidential treatment of the exempt information may be submitted according to the procedures established in Commission Regulation 145.9.^[1]

The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to review, pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse, or remove any or all of a submission from www.cftc.gov that it may deem to be inappropriate for publication, such as obscene language. All submissions that have been redacted or removed that contain comments on the merits of the rulemaking will be retained in the public comment file and will be considered as required under the Administrative Procedure Act and other applicable laws, and may be accessible under the FOIA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Christopher W. Cummings, Special Counsel, 202-418-5445, [e-mail] or Barbara S. Gold, Associate Director, 202-418-5441, [e-mail], Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Proposal concerns certain provisions of the Annual Report that registered CPOs are required to distribute and submit under Regulation 4.22. Among other things, it would amend these provisions: To permit the use of additional alternative generally accepted accounting principles, standards or practices; to provide for an exemption from the Annual Report audit requirement where the first fiscal year of a pool consists of a period of three months or less from the date of formation of the pool; and to clarify that a CPO must distribute and submit an audited Annual Report at least once during the life of the pool. The comment period for the Proposal is due to expire on September 6, 2016.

By letter dated August 26, 2016, the Managed Funds Association (MFA), a membership organization representing many persons who would be affected by the Proposal, requested a two-week extension of the comment period for the Proposal, such that, as extended, the comment period would expire on September 20, 2016. In support of its request, MFA explained that it is drafting comments in response to the Commission's request for comments on the Proposal and, in this regard, is seeking to provide comments representative of the views of its membership. MFA further explained that it is finding it challenging to ensure that its members have adequate time to review comments for submission by September 6, 2016, in light of previously scheduled family-related commitments which find them out-of-office during the last two weeks of August.

In light of the foregoing, and in response to the MFA request, by this Federal Register release the Commission is extending the comment period for the Proposal for two weeks, until September 20, 2016.

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 30, 2016, by the Commission.

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,

Secretary of the Commission.

Appendix to Commodity Pool Operator Annual Report—Commission Voting Summary

On this matter, Chairman Massad and Commissioners Bowen and Giancarlo voted in the affirmative. No Commissioner voted in the negative.

Footnotes

1.  17 CFR 145.9 (2016). The Commission's regulations are found at 17 CFR Ch. I (2016). They are accessible through the Commission's Web site.