In November 2012, the CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued a no-action letter stating that the Division would not recommend that the CFTC take enforcement action against a family office for failure to register as a commodity pool operator ("CPO") if the family office meets the definition of "family office" promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. In order to obtain the protection of this no-action letter, the family office had to make an electronic filing with the CFTC claiming the registration exemption. See our prior bulletin of December, 2012 here.
The November 2012 no-action letter, however, did not provide family offices with a similar exemption from registration as a commodity trading adviser ("CTA"), leaving open the question whether such registration was required for family offices.
The CFTC has remedied this uncertainty in a no-action letter dated November 5, 2014 (CFTC Letter No. 14-143) in which it permits family offices to claim CTA registration relief by making an electronic filing with the CFTC similar to the filing for CPO relief.
