Notices to Members

May 20, 2019

NFA's Board of Directors approves dues surcharge for certain Member firms engaged in swaps activities

On May 16th, NFA's Board of Directors approved an annual dues surcharge of $1,750 on certain NFA Members including FCMs for which NFA is the DSRO, IBs, CPOs and CTAs that are approved as swap firms pursuant to NFA Bylaw 301(l)¹. The Board determined to impose this surcharge on these firms since NFA does not currently assess any fees related to NFA's oversight of their swaps activities.

Effective date

Pending approval by the CFTC, the dues surcharge will become effective on January 1, 2020 and will be included in all invoices of swap-approved or swap-pending Member firms for membership dues payable after that date. NFA will invoice the new membership dues for the following membership year approximately 45 days before the firm's renewal date, and the new membership dues shall be payable in full on or before the firm's membership renewal date.

Withdrawal of swap-approved status

An NFA Member can check its swap approval status by accessing NFA's BASIC system.

In order to avoid this surcharge, a current or pending swap-approved Member firm that is not engaged in swaps activities and is not required to be a swap-approved firm should withdraw its swap approval status by completing Form 7-W using NFA's online registration system (ORS).

An authorized ORS user can access the Form 7-W by going to the ORS Links menu, selecting "Update/Withdraw Registration Information" and then clicking on "Process a Firm Withdrawal Request." Under the Withdrawal Categories section of the Form 7-W, check the box next to the Swap Firm category to withdraw the firm's swap approval status.

To ensure proper processing, NFA encourages firms to file the Form 7-W prior to January 1, 2020. However, any firm that withdraws its swaps approval prior to the firm's 2020 renewal date will not be required to remit the additional surcharge.

If you have any questions regarding the new dues surcharge, please contact Tanika Pierre, Associate Director, Treasurer's Office (312-781-1383 or tpierre@nfa.futures.org).

Questions regarding withdrawing as a swaps-approved firm should be directed to NFA's Information Center (800-621-3570 or information@nfa.futures.org).

¹ NFA Bylaw 301(l) requires FCM, IB, CPO and CTA Members engaged in activities involving swaps subject to the jurisdiction of the CFTC to be approved by NFA as swap firms, and their APs who engage in swaps related activities to be approved as swap APs.