Disclosure Documents
Unless an applicable exemption has been filed, each commodity pool operator (CPO) registered or required to be registered must provide a disclosure document to prospective participants in a pool that it operates or intends to operate. CPOs required to provide a disclosure document to pool participants must file the disclosure document with NFA.
- View CPO Disclosure Documents FAQs
- View Disclosure Documents: A Guide for CPOs (PDF)
Filing Disclosure Documents
CPOs required to provide a disclosure document to pool participants must file all disclosure documents and any subsequently updated disclosure documents with NFA for review and acceptance prior to their use.
NFA Member CPOs that engage in activities related to virtual currencies or virtual currency derivatives have additional disclosure requirements.
Disclosure documents must be filed using NFA's Electronic Disclosure Document Filing System.
Disclosure documents should be filed using one of the following formats:
- Microsoft Word
- Rich Text
Once the initial disclosure document for a pool has been filed, two copies of all future disclosure documents must be filed with NFA. Both a clean and a "marked" copy are required. The marked copy must identify all deletions and additions that have been made to the disclousre document previously filed with NFA. This may be done, for example, by striking through deletions and underlying additions.
Upon receipt of a disclosure document, NFA will email a confirmation receipt to the NFA Member CPO.
Disclosure Document Review Process
NFA's goal is to complete its initial review of a disclosure document within 14 days of receipt. Once NFA completes its review, it will communicate either its acceptance of the disclosure document or any deficiencies. The CPO is required to correct any deficiencies and re-submit the disclosure document to NFA for review before it will be accepted. Once a Member has filed a disclosure document with NFA that has been accepted, subsequent disclosure documents may be eligible for instant filing if there have been no material changes since last acceptance and all changes have been highlighted. Instant filing will result in a review process of three business days.
NFA's review is designed to ensure that disclosure documents contain all of the required information and that such information is consistent with information on record with NFA. It is the CPO's responsibility to ensure it uses a disclosure document that is accurate and complete.
During the course of an NFA examination, a CPO's disclosure document may be reviewed to ensure consistency between the firm's business operations and the information included in the disclosure document. As a result, NFA's acceptance of a filed disclosure document does not prevent NFA or the CFTC from raising issues with regard to the disclosure document in the future.