Member Newsletter

The following actions were taken by NFA's Board of Directors at its meeting on February 15, 2001.

The Board elected Lawrence D. Ryan as an FCM representative in the 51+ Office category to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Thomas M. Lane, Jr. Mr. Ryan is a branch manager of Prudential Securities Incorporated located in Chicago.

The Board re-elected incumbents H. Richard Farr and Silas Keehn to serve as public representatives. Their three-year terms will expire in 2004.

The Board re-elected Charles P. Nastro to another one-year term as Chairman of the Board.

The Board elected the following individuals to serve on the Executive Committee: Scott Gordon, Neal L. Wolkoff, Michael R. Schaefer, Douglas O. Kitchen, Frederick G. Uhlmann, George E. Crapple, Douglas L. Bry, Todd E. Petzel.

The Board elected Michael R. Schaefer to serve a one-year term as Vice-Chairman of the Board.

The Board made the following appointments to NFA Committees for terms to expire in January 2004:

Appeal Committee: H. Richard Farr, Bonnie S. Litt

Membership Committee: Lou Illes, Silas Keehn, Robert E. Murray

Business Conduct Committee: Clarence Delbridge, III, Franklin A. Gelber, Paul J. Georgy

Hearing Committee: L. Carlton Anderson, Robert L. Isaacson, Charles LeBeau, Robert L. Martin, Mark J. Powers

CPO/CTA Advisory Committee: Robert J. Amedeo, Anthony V. Czapla, Barbara A. Pfendler

IB Advisory Committee: Scott W. Stewart, Thomas L. Tippens

Educational/Testing Advisory Committee: Dr. Lloyd A. Besant, Michael H. Rittenberg, Lawrence J. Schneider

The Board approved two resolutions relating to NFA's 2001 Strategic Planning Report. First, the Board extended the Executive Committee's authority to review and approve regulatory service agreements between NFA and electronic exchanges to those markets which are not required to perform self-regulatory responsibilities but which voluntarily choose to do so. The Board also gave the Executive Committee the authority to review and approve agreements for the licensing of NFA software related to regulatory operations.

The Board approved an amendment to Article III, Section 1 of NFA's Articles of Incorporation to reflect the evolving roles of NFA in the futures industry. The amended Section will read as follows:

Article III: PURPOSES

Section 1: Fundamental Purposes

Subject to the limitations in Section 2 of this Article, the fundamental purposes of NFA are to promote the improvement of business conditions and the common business interests of persons engaged in commodity futures or related activity (i) undertaking the regulation of persons that are members of NFA (hereinafter "Members") as set forth in this Article; (ii) relieving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (hereinafter "Commission") from the substantial burden of direct regulation in such matters; and (iii) by providing such regulatory services to such markets as the Board may from time to time approve . . .

The Board appointed a Special Committee to examine NFA's fee structure to determine whether the current structure of assessment fees will continue to provide NFA adequate funding without imposing undue burdens on users of the market. See separate story. The Board appointed a Special Committee to examine NFA's current governing structure. See separate story. The Board approved changes to the Interpretive Notice to NFA's Compliance Rule 2-9 regarding Supervision of Telemarketing Activity. The amendments, which will become effective on June 1, 2001, are as follows:

• Firms with less than five Associated Persons (APs) will be required to adopt the enhanced supervisory procedures or seek a waiver if two or more APs have been employed by one or more Disciplined Firms;

• FCMs and their Guaranteed Independent Brokers (GIBs) will be counted as one "firm" for purposes of determining whether the Telemarketing Rule's criteria apply. If it does meet the criteria, the FCM and all of its GIBs will be required to adopt supervisory procedures if the FCM or GIB meets the criteria on its own;

• The definition of "Disciplined Firm" is expanded to include firms expelled or closed down solely for promotional material violations;

• Some of the factors that the Waiver Committee may consider in evaluating a waiver request are listed; and

• The title of the Interpretive Notice is changed to read "Enhanced Supervisory Requirements" to coincide with the broader focus of the Telemarketing Rule.