Financial Surveillance Examination Program Requirements for Self-Regulatory Organizations

Résumé

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("Commission" or "CFTC") is amending its regulations governing the minimum standards for a self-regulatory organization's ("SRO") financial surveillance examination program of futures commission merchants ("FCMs"). The amendments revise the scope of a third-party expert's evaluation of the SRO's financial surveillance program to cover only the examination standards used by SRO staff in conducting FCM examinations. The amendments also extend the minimum timeframes from three years to five years between when an SRO must engage a third-party expert to evaluate its FCM examination standards for consistency with applicable auditing standards. The amendments should reduce the costs associated with the operation of a financial surveillance program, while also providing effective third-party evaluation of the FCM examination standards.