CFTC Grants Exemptive Relief From Certain RIC Liquidation Requirements

Subject to specified conditions, the CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight granted exemptive relief to certain CPOs from CFTC Rule 4.22(c)(7) requirements to obtain participant waivers. The relief allows the CPOs to provide unaudited financial statements in conjunction with Annual Reports when liquidating a series of an SEC-registered investment company ("RIC").

In granting this relief, the CFTC noted the difficulty for a CPO to obtain written waivers from each participant of a series fund given the difficulty in determining the identity of pool participants who purchase their ownership interests through financial intermediaries.

Commentary

This small exemptive action, which is not, of itself, terribly significant from a market perspective, is a great example of why the CFTC's withdrawal of the historical exemption that SEC-registered investment companies had previously from regulation as a commodity pool was unwise. SEC-registered