In an era of less government securities regulations, CCOs and compliance officers are being asked to do more. One example is the CFTC no-action letter from late last year that exempts certain hedge funds from CFTC registration and removes certain filing requirements. Despite the removal of regulatory reporting and oversight, hedge fund CCOs and compliance will still need to monitor their firms for risks, a task that could be perceived as less critical without the additional CFTC requirements. FrontLine Compliance’s Founder and President, Amy Lynch, views the CFTC no-action letter as flying under the radar and receiving little attention, even though it’s a meaningful event. Compliance should take note that the easing of regulations does not diminish their responsibilities to be the first line in identifying and mitigating risks. See Hedge Fund Alert (subscription required), “Huge Number of Firms Spared Dual SEC, CFTC Registration Under Latest Regulatory Ruling”
Based on the related SEC Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CFTC, Amy Lynch also comments that the two agencies will be reviewing Regulation SBSR and the CFTC’s swap data reporting rules to harmonize them and relieve firms of any duplicative reporting. She adds that the main goal of the MOU is seemingly to ease the path of regulation for firms that fall under both the CFTC and SEC for examinations. See IGNITES (subscription required), “Derivative, Crypto Products Big Winners in Harmonized SEC, CFTC”
