Key Takeaways

  • Effective June 15, 2026, the National Futures Association (the “NFA”) amended its NFA Member Questionnaire submission rule to remove the requirement that a registered associated person (an “AP”) who is also a listed principal of the NFA member submit the questionnaire and any material changes to the same.1
  • Effective July 1, 2026, the NFA will liberalize its branch office supervision requirements to permit branch office managers to supervise more than one branch office and to permit remote supervision of branch offices. 

Background on the NFA Member Questionnaire

All commodity interest market intermediaries that are required to register with the CFTC, except non-discretionary CTAs, are required to be members of a registered futures association and be subject to that association’s rules. The NFA is currently the only registered futures association and operates as a self-regulatory organization. When a CFTC registrant becomes an NFA member, and annually thereafter at the time of the CFTC registrant’s NFA membership anniversary, the NFA member must electronically file an NFA Member Questionnaire that encompasses a general questionnaire along with CFTC registration category-specific questionnaires (collectively, the “NFA Member Questionnaire”). For CPOs, this includes “pool-level” questionnaires for pools the CPO operates in its registered CPO capacity (e.g., under CFTC Rules 4.12(c)(3) and 4.7). Since 2024 under NFA Compliance Rule 2-52, the NFA had required that the individual who submits the NFA Member Questionnaire and any material amendments to the same, be a registered AP and also a listed principal of the NFA member (“AP/principal”).2 The NFA has explicitly stated that if a CPO launched a new commodity pool or began “engaging or disengaging in activities relating to: commodity interest products, micro-contracts, retail forex or digital assets, algorithmic trading activities, or cloud computing” that those would be material changes to the NFA member’s questionnaire, and the AP/principal would be required to submit those changes in the NFA system in an other-than-annual update, prompting another filing of a NFA Member Questionnaire.

NFA Action on the NFA Member Questionnaire

On June 1, 2026, the NFA submitted a notice of proposed rule change to the CFTC that would rescind the requirement that the individual who files the NFA Member Questionnaire and material updates be an AP/principal. Going forward, the individual completing the submission must be either a listed principal of the NFA member or another senior level individual who is sufficiently knowledgeable about the NFA member’s ongoing business operations. This change will allow NFA members’ chief compliance officers (who are required to be listed as principals) and/or other members of the compliance and legal function, all of whom are not traditionally also registered as APs, to be able to submit the NFA Member Questionnaire and material amendments. In proposing to change the requirement, the NFA acknowledged that “complying with the [AP/principal] requirement is sometimes difficult because the person most knowledgeable about the information within the [NFA Member] Questionnaire and, therefore, most qualified to complete it, is not an AP.” In a Notice to Members dated June 15, 2026, the NFA announced that this rule change is now effective.3

Background on Branch Offices and Supervision

Under CFTC regulations and NFA rules, a branch office is any location other than an NFA member’s main business address where APs are located. This applies unless the location qualifies for the so-called “home office” exemption.4 Where an NFA member has a branch office, it must register the branch office with the NFA and put in place certain supervisory processes. Previously, each branch office was required to have a branch office manager who had taken and passed the FINRA Series 30 licensing exam. In recent years, NFA members have been finding that they have more APs working in other offices that they need to register as branch offices and for which they need to designate branch office managers. These situations often involve remote offices with only one or two APs who are not necessarily engaged in AP activity. In these cases, compliance is centralized with the main office, and the branch office APs do not handle customer funds or create their own promotional materials.

NFA Action on Branch Office Managers

On June 1, 2026, the NFA submitted a notice of proposed rule change to the CFTC that would permit a branch office manager to supervise more than one branch location and to do so remotely. An NFA member wishing to take advantage of this liberalization of the branch office manager requirements must make a determination that based on the size, scope and operations of the branch office(s) in question, that the person designated as the branch office manager can effectively and diligently supervise more than one branch office. In order to permit remote supervision, the NFA member would need to develop and implement appropriate supervisory procedures tailored to a remote supervisory work environment. Reassessment of the supervision of multiple branch offices and the remote supervision of the same would be necessary if the NFA member becomes aware of irregularities or misconduct in the branch office(s). In a Notice to Members dated June 10, 2026, the NFA announced that this rule change will become effective on July 1, 2026.5 NFA Members who would like to take advantage of the branch office manager changes will need to review their branch office operations, make the appropriate determinations and amend their compliance procedures. Branch office self-examination and audit requirements remain unchanged.

Footnotes

  1.  The rule revision applies to all NFA member categories except registered swap dealers. As most readers of this Dechert OnPoint will be commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) and commodity trading advisors (“CTAs”), where the balance of this memorandum refers to “NFA members,” those references will be to NFA members that are either registered CPOs or registered CTAs, or entities registered as both.
  2.  See Registered CPOs and CTAs Must Take Action with NFA by October 2024, Dechert OnPoint (Aug. 15, 2024).
  3.  NFA amends NFA Compliance Rule 2-52 and related Interpretive Notice 9082 entitled NFA Compliance Rule 2-52: Requirements in Connection with NFA’s Member Questionnaire, NFA Notice to Members No. I-26-16 (June 15, 2026). NFA members can read the full, amended Interpretive Notice 9082 here. 
  4. The “home office” exemption applies to any location where one or more APs from the same household live or rent/lease provided the location is not held out to the public as an office of the NFA member; the AP(s) does not meet in-person with customers or physically handle customer funds at the location; and any CFTC or NFA required records created at the non-branch office location are accessible for inspection at the NFA member firm’s main or applicable listed branch office as required under CFTC Rule 1.31 and NFA Compliance Rule 2-10.
  5.  NFA amends NFA Interpretive Notice 9002 entitled Registration Requirements: Branch Offices, NFA Notice to Members No. I-26-15 (June 10, 2026). NFA members can read the full, amended Interpretive Notice 9002 here.