Monday 30 April 2018

Haramkah forexworld


nossos valores nosso pessoal Liderando a editora b2b, especializada em comunidades profissionais on-line e interativas Sobre nós Com uma variedade de serviços, incluindo sites, publicações por e-mail, prêmios e eventos do setor, a Sift Media oferece conteúdo original de marca para mais de meio milhão de profissionais em contabilidade e TI , RH e treinamento, marketing e pequenos negócios. Ao produzir conteúdo de qualidade e engajar nossos públicos profissionais em vários pontos de contato, oferecemos às marcas b2b oportunidades únicas de marketing que proporcionam retorno genuíno do investimento. Nossos valores Acreditamos na criação de conteúdo, na ativação de conversas e na conversão de oportunidades de negócios, tanto para nossos públicos de negócios quanto para nossos clientes de publicidade. Ao enfocar o conteúdo e promover o envolvimento da comunidade, pretendemos criar ambientes confiáveis ​​e exclusivos para marcas de negócios e profissionais de negócios para otimizar os relacionamentos. Nosso pessoal Nosso pessoal é nosso maior patrimônio e tivemos a sorte de atrair alguns dos melhores talentos digitais do país. Com uma equipe de gerenciamento sênior prática, gerentes de conta e de campanha experientes, editores premiados e uma equipe de ponta em tecnologia e produção, temos uma estrutura e uma qualidade que nos diferencia de outros editores. Saiba mais e conheça a equipe abaixo. Ben Heald Tom Dunkerley Steven Priscott Georgina Dalby Nossa história Fundada por Andrew Gray, David Gilroy e o atual CEO Ben Heald, a Sift ofereceria serviços de informações específicos do setor que aproveitassem a Internet integrando notícias tradicionais e conteúdo da web. Com Bens experiência em contabilidade foi decidido que este seria o primeiro mercado para a exploração e assim em 1997 AccountingWEB. co. uk nasceu. A fórmula funcionou, e em 12 meses a lista de circulação passou de 10 para 4.000, com receitas sendo geradas a partir de anúncios em boletins semanais de e-mail. A Sift Media agora atinge mais de 700.000 profissionais de negócios registrados por mês e oferece mais de 5 milhões de impressões de página em seu portfólio de 11 títulos no Reino Unido e nos EUA. Além de continuarmos desenvolvendo algumas das comunidades comerciais on-line mais leais e engajadas, fornecemos soluções de ponta para os anunciantes. Para uma história mais detalhada, visite nosso site corporativo. Junte-se a nós Se você gostaria de se juntar a um dos editores mais empolgantes do Reino Unido e acredita que tem a paixão e as habilidades para se tornar uma parte valiosa da equipe, por que não confira nossas vagas atuais. Verdad o mentira bollinger bandas sas estratégias de tranzactionare pe forex Início melhor forex sinal site tribuforex eur chf gt russell areias forex handelssysteme negociação Fóruns opções fórum de comércio india forex emboscada 2.0 gt compreensão opções fx pdf cibc opções fx Executando um negócio ninjatrader importação forex dados banco comercial de forex forex taxas gt forex marvel trader revisao General Business Forum vortex opcoes binarias Trazido a voce por sistemas de soalho de negociacao E. On Hey Convidado, certifique-se de nos seguir no Twitter Diga oi e bem nao se esqueça de seguir de volta sobre o mercado forex pdf top rated Opções binárias sinais General Business Forum opções de ações de imposto de renda de Cingapura Discussão de negócios em geral, conselhos e assistência. gapore UK Business Forums modelagem trading desempenho do sistema howard bandy pdf forex ninjatrader demo euro4x forex opinioni Início opções binárias 5 depósito mínimo rajwade forex ebook gt opções binárias negociação robôs comentários opções binárias comércio de papel Fóruns cara comércio virtual di optionsxpress impostos forex trading gt stock options fundamentos inoxidável sistemas de balaustrada de aço nz Executando uma coroa de negócios sistemas de negociação multi monitor de computador opções binárias ebook download gt analisa teknikal emas seputar forex Geral Business Forum cme fx opções de interesse aberto Trazido a você pelo banner instaforex E. On Ei convidado, certifique-se de seguir-nos no Twitter Diga oi e bem não se esqueça de seguir de volta opções de opções de fx aud simulador de comércio Fórum de negócios geral sistema de negociação forex Discussão de negócios geral, aconselhamento e assistência.

Off exchange retail forex definitions


O Federal Reserve adota as regras do varejo de varejo Os padrões para organizações bancárias reguladas pelo Federal Reserve for Retail são geralmente comparáveis ​​às regras adotadas por outros reguladores. Em 3 de abril, o Conselho de Governadores do Sistema da Reserva Federal (Board) adotou as regras finais para permitir que organizações bancárias sob sua supervisão se envolvessem em transações de varejo (Forex) .1 As Regras Finais estabelecem requisitos para o Varejo Transações de Forex com relação a divulgação de riscos aos clientes, manutenção de registros, capital e margem, conduta nos negócios e documentação. As Regras Finais abrangem entidades regulamentadas pela Diretoria, incluindo bancos estatais que são membros do banco do Federal Reserve System e empresas holding e sociedades de concordatas e agências sem garantia, estaduais e agências de bancos estrangeiros. Qualquer organização bancária para a qual o Conselho é o principal regulador deve rever suas práticas existentes de Forex e implementar quaisquer alterações necessárias antes da data efetiva de 13 de maio de 2013 das Regras Finais.2 Regulamentação do Varejo Forex O termo quotRetail Forexquot abrange todos os estrangeiros transações de câmbio realizadas no mercado de balcão entre pessoas que não são participantes de contratos elegíveis (ECPs) (ou seja, participantes do mercado de varejo) e contrapartes permitidas, que incluem bancos, corretoras, comissionistas de futuros (FCMs) e varejo estrangeiro concessionárias de câmbio (RFEDs) .3 As transações de varejo geralmente incluem, por exemplo, operações a termo, 4 opções de moedas e transações spot, mas não incluem transações de quotspot, 5 transações não alavancadas ou transações realizadas em conexão com uma linha de o negócio. Antes de outubro de 2010, os investidores não-ECP eram obrigados a realizar transações de varejo com entidades licenciadas como bancos, corretoras, FCMs, seguradoras ou afiliadas relevantes de corretoras ou FCMs, mas a atividade não estava sujeita a regras estipuladas por lei. O câmbio institucional não foi diretamente regulado. O Congresso criou um regime regulatório para o Varejo Forex com a promulgação da Lei de Reforma e Defesa do Consumidor de Dodd-Frank Wall Street (Dodd-Frank). A Dodd-Frank emendou a Lei para determinar que uma instituição financeira dos EUA para a qual existe uma agência reguladora federal não pode entrar ou oferecer transações de Varejo Forex exceto sob uma regra ou regulamento de uma agência reguladora federal que prescreve as transações39 termos e condições.6 Embora não haja um histórico legislativo explicando o propósito do Congresso em exigir a adoção das regras de Varejo Forex, é geralmente entendido que o Congresso estava procurando assegurar que as entidades que realizam atividades de Varejo Forex estivessem sujeitas a um amplo esquema regulatório protegendo pequenas e não sofisticadas. clientes de varejo a partir de práticas comerciais potencialmente problemáticas empregadas por uma classe de revendedores Forex finamente capitalizados.7 Como resultado desta emenda, outras agências regulatórias federais adotaram regras que tratam do Varejo Forex, incluindo a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 8. Corporação de Seguro de Depósito (FDIC), 9 e o Escritório da Co A Comissão de Negociação de Futuros de Commodities (CFTC) adotou anteriormente regras relativas ao Varejo Forex para pessoas sujeitas à jurisdição da CFTC.11 Comparação entre Regras Finais e Regras Propostas As Regras Finais adotam amplamente as regras propostas do Conselho de Administração de julho. 28, de 2011, aviso de proposta de regulamentação (Proposta de Regras), 12 e, exceto conforme descrito abaixo, são amplamente consistentes com os requisitos anteriormente adotados pelo FDIC e OCC. Ao adotar as Regras Finais, o Conselho identificou diferenças importantes entre as Regras Finais e as Regras Propostas e forneceu orientação na interpretação das Regras Finais. Divulgação e Relatórios de Spreads As Regras Propostas estabelecem os requisitos que as divulgações de preços fornecidas aos clientes devem incluir a divulgação de qualquer taxa, encargo ou comissão que a instituição bancária possa impor ao cliente Forex de Varejo. As regras paralelas adotadas pelo FDIC e OCC exigiam a divulgação de cotações, encargos, comissões ou spreads que a entidade possa impor ao cliente de varejo de Forex. Ao adotar as Regras Finais, a Diretoria alterou sua linguagem proposta para incluir aspas. ”No entanto, observou que os spreads eram cobertos pelo seu idioma proposto e que apenas acrescentava a palavra“ quotspreads ”para tornar essa cobertura explícita. Em outras partes das Regras Finais, por exemplo, em relação às declarações mensais que devem ser fornecidas aos clientes, a Diretoria não alterou as cotas, encargos e comissões da cláusula para incluir os spreads. Com base na linguagem do Adopting Release, no entanto, a Diretoria aparentemente pretende que qualquer discussão sobre taxas, encargos ou comissões inclua a divulgação de spreads. O Conselho também esclareceu que os juros pagos por uma instituição bancária a seus clientes com margem de caixa usada para garantir transações de varejo em Forex não são uma "comissão, comissão ou comissão" que deve ser divulgada pela instituição bancária. Empresas de Poupança e Empréstimo O termo “instituição bancária” é usado para definir os tipos de entidades reguladas pelo Conselho que podem realizar transações de Varejo Forex.13 Embora não esteja listado nas Regras Propostas, o Conselho incluiu sociedades gestoras de poupança e empréstimo na definição de instituição bancária. nas Regras Finais e estabelecem requisitos de capital relacionados que exigem que as holdings de poupança e empréstimo sejam capitalizadas, conforme definido no Regulamento LL. A Junta notou que as holdings de poupança e empréstimo foram adicionadas ao regulamento para refletir a transferência da responsabilidade regulatória das empresas de poupança e empréstimo para a Diretoria em 21 de julho de 2011. Reserva de Autoridade Ao adotar as Regras Finais, a Diretoria acrescentou uma ampla "preservação de autoridade", permitindo-lhe modificar a divulgação, manutenção de registros, capital e margem, relatórios, conduta comercial, documentação ou outros padrões ou requisitos. para uma transação específica de Varejo Forex ou uma classe de transações de Varejo Forex, se a Diretoria determinar que a modificação é consistente com segurança e solidez e a proteção de clientes de Varejo Forex. “Esta provisão não está contida nas regras FDIC ou OCC e efetivamente permite o Conselho a adotar requisitos mais rigorosos para categorias específicas de transações Forex de varejo do que as estabelecidas em suas Regras Finais. As Regras Finais proíbem uma instituição bancária e suas pessoas relacionadas de se envolver em conduta fraudulenta em conexão com transações de varejo em Forex. Nas Regras Propostas, o Conselho estabeleceu que uma contraparte de Varejo Forex não pode fraudar ou tentar defraudar qualquer pessoa em conexão com uma transação de Varejo Forex. O Ato e outros reguladores (por exemplo, CFTC, FDIC e OCC) usaram a frase "apele, defraudam ou tentam enganar ou defraudar" e o Conselho adotou essa linguagem em suas Regras Finais. Além disso, consistente com as Regras Propostas, as Regras Finais proíbem uma contraparte de Varejo de (i) conscientemente fazer ou causar qualquer relato falso ou declaração a qualquer pessoa ou fazer com que seja inserido qualquer registro falso para qualquer pessoa e (ii) conscientemente enganando ou tentando enganar qualquer pessoa por qualquer meio que seja. Contas de Pessoas Ligadas As Regras Finais que tratam de padrões operacionais e de negociação são concebidas para assegurar que pessoas relacionadas (por exemplo, diretores, diretores, 10 ou mais proprietários, pessoas associadas, empregados e parentes ou cônjuges que compartilhem a mesma casa de qualquer das pessoas citadas). ) de uma contraparte de varejo de Forex (incluindo uma instituição bancária) não abrir contas com outra instituição bancária sem o conhecimento e autorização do pessoal de vigilância de conta da contraparte de varejo de Forex com o qual eles são afiliados. Nas Regras Finais, o Conselho adicionou uma exigência de que, quando um funcionário que trabalha no negócio de Varejo Forex de uma instituição bancária estabelece uma conta em outra contrapartida de Varejo, a outra contraparte Forex de Varejo deve preparar registros escritos de pedidos para tal pessoa. hora marcada para o minuto mais próximo. O objetivo desta regra é permitir que o departamento de vigilância da instituição bancária do funcionário monitore a negociação do funcionário e detecte abusos, como a execução antecipada de ordens administradas pela instituição bancária. As Regras Finais proíbem uma instituição bancária de celebrar qualquer acordo ou entendimento com um cliente de Varejo Forex em que o cliente concorda, antes do momento de reclamação ou queixa, de apresentar a reclamação ou queixa de acordo com qualquer procedimento de liquidação pré-determinado. A Diretoria reconheceu, no entanto, que as transações de Varejo entre a filial ou o escritório estrangeiro de uma instituição bancária e um cliente dos EUA poderiam ser transações transfronteiriças sujeitas a obrigações de tratados para executar acordos de arbitragem comercial internacionais e para reconhecer e aplicar sentenças arbitrais comerciais internacionais. Ao adotar as Regras Finais, a Diretoria estabeleceu uma exceção à proibição de acordos de arbitragem abrangidos pelos capítulos dois ou três da Lei Federal de Arbitragem, que implementam as obrigações do tratado relativas à arbitragem de transações transnacionais. Instruções do cliente sobre compensação As regras finais exigem que uma instituição bancária aplique transações de compensação que fecham as posições abertas de varejo de um cliente em relação à posição aberta mais antiga (ou seja, primeiro a entrar, primeiro a sair), a menos que o cliente forneça instruções específicas sobre a aplicação da transação de compensação. No Adopting Release, a Diretoria declarou que as instruções gerais não são suficientes para esse propósito, mas também observou que as instruções de trade by trade não são necessárias. Em vez disso, as instruções que se aplicam a um conjunto de transações especificamente definido seriam suficientes. Qualquer instrução desse tipo pode ser dada oralmente ou por escrito, e a instituição bancária deve criar e manter um registro de cada instrução de compensação. Definição de "Participante de Contrato elegível" As Regras Finais adotaram expressamente a definição "ECP" estabelecida na Lei, bem como as regras do CFTC que interpretam a definição, que fornecem um porto seguro para a cotação de grupos de commodities que negociam divisas estrangeiras para determinar se os investidores o pool de commodities são eles próprios ECPs.14 De acordo com a norma ECP da CFTC, um pool de commodities que participa de transações cambiais será uma ECP se o pool de commodities (i) não tiver sido formado com a finalidade de evitar as regras do Forex, (ii) tem ativos totais superiores a 10.000.000 e (iii) é formado e operado por uma operadora de produtos de base registrada (CPO) ou uma CPO que está isenta de registro sob a Regra 1.13 (a) (3) da CFTC. No Adopting Release, o Conselho declarou que uma instituição bancária que entra em negociações de Varejo Forex com um cliente não ECP que mais tarde se torna um ECP pode continuar a tratar o cliente como um cliente de Varejo Forex. O pessoal do Conselho esclareceu separadamente que, se uma instituição bancária desejar aplicar as Regras Finais em vez das regras de swap que de outra forma se aplicariam a operações de swap cambial com PCEs, a instituição bancária precisaria obter orientação do CFTC em relação ao pedido. das regras de swap para clientes não-ECP que subsequentemente se tornam ECPs. O Conselho não se oporia a continuar aplicando as Regras Finais a tais clientes. Reimpressão Simétrica de Preços As Regras Finais exigem que uma instituição bancária requeira os preços de forma simétrica. Uma instituição bancária não pode fornecer a um cliente um novo preço de compra para uma transação de Varejo Forex que seja maior (ou menor) que seu lance anterior sem fornecer um novo preço de venda que também seja maior (ou menor) do que seu preço de venda anterior quantidade similar. No Adopting Release, o Conselho reconheceu que a prática de mercado não é fornecer cotações, mas sim rejeitar pedidos e avisar os clientes de que eles podem enviar um novo pedido. O Conselho confirmou no Adopting Release que esta prática de mercado era aceitável. Principais Distinções entre as Regras Finais e Outros Reguladores Bancários39 Regras Outra distinção entre as Regras Finais e as regras adotadas pelo FDIC e OCC é o direito da instituição bancária de compensar as perdas que o cliente experimenta nas transações Forex de Varejo contra outros ativos do Banco. o cliente mantido no banco. De acordo com as regras do OCC e do FDIC, o banco está proibido de aplicar perdas que o cliente tenha em transações Forex de Varejo a quaisquer fundos de clientes ou propriedades que não sejam aquelas que o cliente forneceu ou prometeu como margem. Sob as Regras Finais, no entanto, uma instituição bancária pode aplicar perdas que o cliente experimenta em transações Forex de Varejo a quaisquer fundos de clientes ou propriedades mantidas na instituição bancária, não apenas aquelas mantidas para atividades de Varejo Forex. A instituição bancária deve fornecer ao cliente a divulgação de se ele reterá ou não esse direito de compensação, e se ele retiver o direito de compensação, a instituição bancária deve obter uma confirmação por escrito assinada e datada do cliente, indicando que o cliente recebeu e entendeu essa divulgação. Devido a esses diferentes direitos de compensação, o OCC e o FDIC exigem que a garantia seja mantida em uma conta separada das outras contas do cliente no banco, para que o banco não trate todos os ativos do cliente em posse do banco como margem de garantia. Atividades de varejo de Forex. O OCC e a FDIC indicaram, no entanto, que a margem do cliente pode ser mantida em uma conta de margem omnibus. As Regras Finais não exigem que a margem seja separada dos demais ativos do cliente, o que facilitaria a capacidade da instituição bancária de exercer o seu direito de compensar. Embora as Regras Finais sejam amplamente consistentes com as da CFTC e de outros reguladores bancários, há variações importantes entre as regras como escritas, que provavelmente se desenvolverão à medida que as interpretações das agências evoluírem pela aplicação de suas respectivas regras. Não havia obrigação de os reguladores funcionais se consultarem mutuamente em conexão com suas respectivas regulamentações e nenhuma obrigação de os reguladores funcionais se consultarem um ao outro ao interpretar suas regras. Instituições que oferecem transações de varejo em Forex devem estar cientes dessas variações e do impacto que elas têm em seus negócios de varejo em Forex. Se você tiver alguma dúvida ou quiser mais informações sobre os assuntos discutidos neste Flash, entre em contato com um dos seguintes advogados da Morgan Lewis: 1. Operações de câmbio de varejo (Regulamento NN), 78 Fed. Reg. 21.019 (09 de abril de 2013) (a ser codificado em 12 C. F.R. pt. 240), disponível aqui doravante Adotando Liberação. 2. No Adopting Release, a Diretoria declarou que uma instituição bancária que está envolvida em um negócio de Varejo Forex a partir da data efetiva das Regras Finais e que prontamente notifica a Diretoria terá seis meses ou um período mais longo fornecido pela Diretoria para colocar suas operações em conformidade com as Regras Finais. 3. Ver Commodity Exchange Act, seção 1a (18). 4. No Adopting Release, a Diretoria não declara especificamente que os forwards fisicamente liquidados que são celebrados para fins especulativos ou forwards não-entregáveis ​​estarão sujeitos às suas regras. O Adopting Release refere-se apenas ao seguinte como Forex de varejo: futuros de moedas, opções sobre futuros de moedas, opções de moedas diferentes daquelas negociadas em uma bolsa de valores nacional e certas transações alavancadas ou com margens, incluindo transações spot-spot. O Adopting Release exclui o seguinte da definição “Forexet de mercado”: ​​transações à vista liquidadas fisicamente liquidadas dentro de T2, operações a termo entre entidades comerciais conforme definidas na Lei de Mercado de Commodities, e transações à vista liquidadas além de T2 e efetuadas em conexão com a compra ou venda de valores mobiliários. Não obstante a linguagem no Adopting Release, lemos as Regras Finais para incluir (como transações cotadas, consolidadas ou financiadas) a moeda liquidada fisicamente e não-entregáveis ​​à moeda com não-ECPs, que são expressamente cobertas pelas outras regras dos reguladores bancários39. 5. As transações entre pontos são definidas na seção 2 (c) (2) (B) (v) (II) (bb) (AA) da Lei como transações que são liquidadas através de entrega física em dois dias ou menos. Além disso, as transações cambiais liquidadas fisicamente efetuadas em conexão com a compra e a venda de um título são consideradas transações à vista de boa-fé. Consulte Definição Adicional de "swap", "Swap Baseada em Segurança," e "Contrato de Swap Baseada em Segurança", "Registro Misto de Contrato de Swap Baseada em Segurança", 77 Fed. Reg. 48,208 (13 de agosto de 2012) (a ser codificado em 17 C. F.R. pts. 230, 240, 241), disponível aqui. 6. Veja Commodity Exchange Act, seção 2 (c) (2) (E). 7. Ver, e. . CFTC, Fraude em Moeda Estrangeira: Alerta ao Investidor da CFTC / NASAA, disponível aqui SEC, Escritório de Investidores Educ. Amp Advocacy, Investor Bulletin Troca de Moeda Estrangeira (Forex) Trading for Individual Investors (Julho de 2011), disponível aqui. 8. Veja 17 C. F.R. seção 240.15b12-1T Operações de câmbio de varejo, Regra provisória final provisória, 76 Fed. Reg. 41,676 (15 de julho de 2011). 9. Veja 12 C. F.R. pt. 349 Operações de câmbio de varejo, regra final, 76 Fed. Reg. 40,779 (12 de julho de 2011). 10. Veja 12 C. F.R. pt. 48 Operações de câmbio de varejo, regra final, 76 Fed. Reg. 41,375 (14 de julho de 2011). 11. Veja 17 C. F.R. pt. 5 Regulamentação de Transações e Intermediários de Câmbio de Varejo Não Transacionado, Regra Final, 75 Fed. Reg. 55.409 (10 de setembro de 2010). 12. Transações de câmbio de varejo (Regulamento NN), Proposta de Regra, 76 Fed. Reg. 46,652 (3 de agosto de 2011), disponível aqui. 13. No Adopting Release, a Diretoria observou especificamente que as subsidiárias de uma instituição bancária que são organizadas sob a lei estrangeira não são cobertas pelas Regras Finais, independentemente de o cliente ser ou não uma pessoa dos EUA. Deve-se notar, no entanto, que a pessoa que atua como contraparte a uma pessoa dos EUA em uma transação de varejo em Forex deve ser uma daquelas entidades enumeradas sob a lei. Consequentemente, não é claro que uma subsidiária estrangeira teria permissão para oferecer transações de Varejo Forex a pessoas dos EUA, independentemente da aplicação das Regras Finais. 14. Ao adotar a definição ECPquot do CFTC39, o Conselho também se recusou a fornecer requisitos de divulgação reduzidos, exigências de margem reduzida ou flexibilidade de execução de transações para clientes ECP sofisticados (ou seja, profissionais não-ECP), conforme solicitado pelos comentadores. - Ferramentas de documentos Estas ferramentas são projetadas para ajudá-lo a entender melhor o documento oficial e ajudar na comparação da edição online com a edição impressa. Esses elementos de marcação permitem que o usuário veja como o documento segue o Manual de Elaboração de Documentos que as agências usam para criar seus documentos. Isso pode ser útil para entender melhor como um documento é estruturado, mas não faz parte do próprio documento publicado. Conteúdo Melhorado - Conteúdo Aprimorado das Ferramentas de Documentos - Ferramentas para Desenvolvedores AGÊNCIA: AÇÃO: RESUMO: O Escritório da Controladoria da Moeda (OCC) está adotando uma regra final autorizando bancos nacionais, agências federais e agências de bancos estrangeiros e suas subsidiárias operacionais a se engajarem em operações fora da bolsa em moeda estrangeira com clientes de varejo. A regra também descreve vários requisitos com os quais os bancos nacionais, agências federais e agências de bancos estrangeiros e suas subsidiárias operacionais devem cumprir para conduzir tais transações. DATAS: Esta regra entra em vigor em 15 de julho de 2011. Informações adicionais PARA MAIS INFORMAÇÕES CONTATO: Tena Alexander, Advogada Sênior, ou Roman Goldstein, Advogado, Divisão de Valores Mobiliários e Negócios, (202) 874-5120. End Further Info End Prefácio Start Supplemental Information INFORMAÇÕES COMPLEMENTARES I. Antecedentes Em 21 de julho de 2010, o Presidente Obama sancionou a Lei de Reforma e Proteção ao Consumidor de Dodd-Frank Wall Street (Lei Dodd-Frank). 1 Conforme alterada pela Lei Dodd-Frank, 2 a Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) estabelece que uma instituição financeira dos Estados Unidos da América 3, para a qual existe uma agência reguladora federal, não poderá celebrar ou oferecer uma transação descrita em seção 2 (c) (2) (B) (i) (I) do CEA com um cliente de varejo 5, exceto de acordo com uma regra ou regulamento de um órgão regulador federal que permite a transação sob tais termos e condições como o órgão regulador federal prescreverá o anexo 6 ​​(uma ldquoretail forex rulerdquo). A Seção 2 (c) (2) (B) (i) (I) inclui ldquoan acordo, contrato ou transação em moeda estrangeira que é um contrato de venda de uma mercadoria para entrega futura (ou uma opção em tal contrato) ou uma opção (que não seja uma opção executada ou negociada em uma bolsa de valores nacional registrada de acordo com a seção 6 (a) do Securities Exchange Act de 1934 (15 USC 78 f (a)) rdquothinsp 7 tratar similarmente todos esses futuros e opções e todos os acordos, contratos ou transações que são funcionalmente ou economicamente semelhantes a tais futuros e opções.8 As regras do varejo devem determinar requisitos apropriados com relação à divulgação, manutenção de registros, capital e margem, relatórios, conduta nos negócios. e os requisitos de documentação e podem incluir outros padrões ou requisitos que a agência reguladora federal considere necessários.9 Essa emenda da Lei Dodd-Frank ao CEA entrará em vigor 360 dias a partir da promulgação de o ato. 10 Portanto, a partir de 16 de julho de 2011, os bancos nacionais, agências e agências federais de bancos estrangeiros e subsidiárias operacionais dos precedentes (coletivamente, bancos nacionais) não podem se envolver em uma transação de varejo forex, exceto de acordo com as regras de varejo forex emitidas pela OCC. Além disso, em 21 de julho de 2011, o OCC se tornará a agência bancária federal apropriada para associações de poupança federais. 11 O OCC planeja regular as transações de varejo de forex conduzidas pelas associações de poupança federais sob os mesmos termos que nesta regra. No entanto, o OCC não pode emitir regulamentações que regulem as associações federais de poupança até 21 de julho de 2011. Portanto, o OCC espera publicar nesta data uma regra final provisória com pedido de comentário público que amplia o escopo deste regulamento para cobrir as associações de poupança federais. II. Visão geral da regra proposta e ações relacionadas Em 10 de setembro de 2010, a Comissão de Negociação de Futuros de Commodities (Commodity Futures Trading Commission - CFTC) emitiu uma regra de forex de varejo para pessoas sujeitas à sua jurisdição. 12 Em 22 de abril de 2011, o OCC propôs uma regra de forex de varejo para bancos nacionais modelados na regra de forex de varejo de CFTCs. 13 O OCC decidiu modelar sua regra de forex de varejo na regra das CFTCs para promover comparabilidade regulatória e porque a CFTC desenvolveu sua regra de forex de varejo com o benefício de mais de 9.100 comentários de uma série de comentadores, incluindo indivíduos que negociam forex, intermediários, registradores da CFTC atualmente servindo como contrapartes em transações forex de varejo, associações comerciais ou coalizões de participantes do setor, um comitê de uma associação de advogados do condado, uma associação de futuros registrados e vários escritórios de advocacia representando clientes institucionais. O OCC propôs autorizar os bancos nacionais a se envolverem em transações forex de varejo e sujeitar essas transações a exigências relacionadas à divulgação, manutenção de registros, capital e margem, relatórios, conduta nos negócios e documentação. Em 17 de maio de 2011, a Corporação Federal de Seguro de Depósito (FDIC) propôs uma regra de forex de varejo para entidades para as quais é a agência bancária apropriada sob a Lei Federal de Seguro de Depósito. 14 As propostas dos CCOs e das FDICs foram substancialmente semelhantes. III Comentários sobre a Proposta de Regra O período de comentários para a proposta de lei de câmbio de varejo OCC terminou em 23 de maio de 2011. O OCC recebeu um total de três comentários até essa data. Destes, um foi submetido por um grande banco que se envolve em transações forex de varejo (o comentador) e dois foram submetidos por indivíduos. Os dois últimos comentários não se referiam à proposta. O comentarista geralmente apoiava a regra proposta pelos OCCs enquanto solicitava certos esclarecimentos e mudanças. Os comentários dos comentadores para seções específicas da proposta são abordados na Análise Seção por Seção abaixo. À luz dos comentários recebidos, a regra final, na maior parte, é semelhante à regra proposta, as mudanças significativas são descritas na análise Seção por Seção. No preâmbulo da proposta, o OCC indicou que as operações de varejo de forex estão sujeitas à Declaração Interagencial sobre Vendas de Varejo da Nondeposit Investment Products (Declaração de Política NDIP). 15 A Declaração de Política NDIP define a orientação sobre as expectativas dos CCOs quando um banco nacional se envolve na venda de produtos de investimento não deposito para clientes de varejo. A Declaração de Política do NDIP aborda questões como divulgação, adequação, práticas de vendas, remuneração e conformidade. Na proposta, o OCC solicitou comentários sobre se a aplicação da Declaração de Política do NDIP criava problemas que o OCC deveria abordar. O comentarista disse que a Declaração de Política NDIP não deveria se aplicar a transações de varejo, afirmando que a regra de varejo forex seria suficiente para proteger clientes de varejo e a imposição da Declaração de Política NDIP sobre transações de varejo criaria confusão e ambigüidade . Não foram identificadas disposições específicas, no entanto, que criam confusão ou ambiguidade. O comentarista argumentou ainda que, como a Declaração de Política NDIP não se aplica a registrantes da CFTC, sua aplicação em transações de varejo de forex não promoveria um tratamento regulatório consistente de transações de varejo de forex. O OCC acredita que é apropriado aplicar a Declaração de Política NDIP às transações de varejo de forex. As proteções de consumidor que a Declaração de Política NDIP fornece não são menos importantes para transações de varejo de forex do que para outros produtos de investimento não deposicionais. Além disso, não há conflito direto entre essa regra e a Declaração de Política NDIP porque a declaração exige que os bancos nacionais desenvolvam políticas e procedimentos para garantir que as vendas de produtos de investimento não-descontínuos sejam conduzidas em conformidade com as leis e regulamentações aplicáveis. 16 Se um banco nacional tiver dúvidas sobre como a Declaração de Política NDIP se aplica ao seu negócio forex de varejo, ele deve buscar esclarecimento de seus examinadores. IV. Secção seccional de análise Section 48.1mdashAuthority, Purpose, and Scope Esta secção autoriza um banco nacional a realizar transacções forex de retalho. O OCC solicitou comentários sobre se a regra de forex de varejo deve se aplicar a bancos estrangeiros que realizam transações de varejo no exterior, seja com clientes dos EUA ou estrangeiros. O comentador respondeu que não há interesse da política dos EUA em aplicar as regras de proteção ao consumidor dos EUA a transações com residentes fora dos EUA conduzidas por filiais estrangeiras. Essas transações estão sujeitas a exigências regulatórias estrangeiras que podem ser inconsistentes com a regra de forex de varejo. Submeter essas transações a dois conjuntos de requisitos regulatórios também colocaria os bancos nacionais em desvantagem competitiva no exterior. O OCC reconhece as preocupações levantadas pelo comentarista. Transações forex de varejo entre uma agência estrangeira de um banco nacional e um cliente fora dos EUA estão sujeitas a qualquer divulgação, manutenção de registros, capital, margens, relatórios, conduta comercial, documentação e outros requisitos aplicáveis ​​da lei estrangeira aplicável. Portanto, essas transações não estão sujeitas aos requisitos de sectectinsp48.3 e 48.5 a 48.16. Seção 48.2mdashDefinitions Esta seção define termos específicos para transações forex de varejo e para os requisitos regulatórios que se aplicam a transações forex de varejo. A definição de operações forex geralmente inclui as seguintes transações em moeda estrangeira entre um banco nacional e uma pessoa que não é um participante elegível do contrato: uma bolsa nacional de valores mobiliários registrada 19 e (iii) certas transações alavancadas, com margem ou financiadas por bancos, 20 incluindo operações de câmbio à vista. A definição geralmente rastreia a linguagem estatutária na seção 2 (c) (2) (B) e (C) do CEA. 21 Certas transacções em moeda estrangeira não são operações de forex ordinárias. Por exemplo, uma transacção forex spot em que uma moeda é comprada por outra e as duas moedas são trocadas dentro de dois dias não satisfaria a definição de transacção forex de ldquoretail. , a transação forex não inclui um contrato a termo que cria uma obrigação executável de fazer ou receber entrega, desde que cada contraparte tenha a capacidade de entregar e aceitar a entrega em conexão com sua linha de negócios. 23 Além disso, a definição não inclui transações realizadas por meio de uma troca, porque nesses casos a contraparte seria a contraparte do banco nacional e do cliente forex de varejo, em vez do banco nacional diretamente voltado para o forex de varejo. cliente. A regra proposta buscava comentar se as transações forex alavancadas, com margem ou financiadas pelo banco, incluindo transações forex spot (chamadas de contratos Zelener Thinsp 24), deveriam ser reguladas como transações de varejo de varejo que o OCC acreditava que deveriam. 25 O comentador apoiou a inclusão de transações forex spot rolling na definição de transação de forex ldquoretail. rdquo Uma transação de forex spot rolling requer a entrega de moeda dentro de dois dias, como transações à vista. No entanto, na prática, os contratos são renovados indefinidamente a cada dois dias e nenhuma moeda é efetivamente entregue até que uma das partes feche a posição afirmativamente. 26 Portanto, os contratos são economicamente mais parecidos com futuros do que contratos à vista, embora os tribunais os tenham mantido como contratos à vista em forma. 27 Like the CFTCs retail forex rule and the FDICs proposed retail forex rule, the final rules definition of ldquoretail forex transactionrdquo includes leveraged, margined, or bank-financed rolling spot forex transactions, as well as certain other leveraged, margined, or bank-financed forex transactions. The commenter sought clarification that forex forwards would not be included in the definition, because transactions that convert or exchange actual currencies for any commercial or investment purpose are a traditional product offered by national banks and do not raise the consumer protection issues associated with futures or rolling spot forex transactions. The OCC agrees that a forex forward that is not leveraged, margined, or financed by the national bank does not meet the definition of ldquoretail forex transaction. rdquo However, a leveraged, margined, or bank-financed forex forward is a retail forex transaction unless it creates an enforceable obligation to deliver between a seller and a buyer that have the ability to deliver and accept delivery, respectively, in connection with their line of businessthinsp 28 or the OCC determines that the forward is not functionally or economically similar to a forex future or option, as described below. The final rule contains a provision that allows the OCC to exempt specific transactions or kinds of transaction from the third prong of the ldquoretail forex transactionrdquo definition. The OCC is concerned that certain traditional banking products, which are distinguishable from speculative rolling spot forex transactions, may inadvertently fall within the definition of ldquoretail forex transactionrdquo as leveraged, margined, or bank-financed forex transactions. This result was not intended by the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires retail forex rules to treat similarly transactions that are functionally or economically similar to forex futures or options. 29 National banks may seek a determination that a given transaction or kind of transaction does not fall within the third prong of the ldquoretail forex transactionrdquo definition by submitting a written request to the OCC. The commenter asked for confirmation that deposit accounts with foreign exchange features are outside the scope of the rule. The Legal Certainty for Bank Products Act of 2000, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, generally exempts ldquoidentified banking productsrdquo from the CEA. 30 Identified banking products include: Deposit accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, or other deposit instruments issued by a bank bankers acceptances letters of credit issued or loans made by a bank debit accounts at a bank arising from a credit card or similar arrangement and certain loan participations. 31 Because identified banking products are not subject to the CEA, they are not prohibited by section 2(c)(2)(E)(ii) of the CEA. To provide clarity, the final rule excludes identified banking products from the definition of ldquoretail forex transaction. rdquo Identified banking products that have embedded foreign exchange features, for example a deposit account in which the customer may deposit funds in one currency and withdraw funds in another, are not retail forex transactions. This section defines several terms by reference to the CEA, the most important of which is ldquoeligible contract participant. rdquo Foreign currency transactions with eligible contract participants are not considered retail forex transactions and are therefore not subject to this rule. In addition to a variety of financial entities, certain governmental entities, businesses, and individuals may be eligible contract participants. 32 Section 48.3mdashProhibited Transactions This section prohibits a national bank and its institution-affiliated parties from engaging in fraudulent conduct in connection with retail forex transactions. This section also prohibits a national bank from acting as a counterparty to a retail forex transaction if the national bank or its affiliate exercises discretion over the customers retail forex account because the OCC views such self-dealing as inappropriate. The OCC received no comments to this section and adopts it as proposed. Start Printed Page 41378 Section 48.4mdashSupervisory Non-Objection This section requires a national bank to obtain a written supervisory non-objection prior to engaging in a retail forex business. To obtain such non-objection, the national bank will have to provide such information as the OCC deems necessary to determine that the national bank would satisfy the requirements of the rule. This information will include information on: Customer due diligence (including credit evaluations, customer appropriateness, and ldquoknow your customerrdquo documentation) new product approvals haircuts for noncash margin and conflicts of interest. In addition, the national bank must establish that it has adequate written policies, procedures, and risk measurement and management systems and controls. National banks engaged in retail forex transactions as of the effective date of this rule that promptly request the OCCs review of their retail forex business will have six months, or a longer period provided by the OCC, to bring their operations into conformance with the rule. Under this rule, a national bank that requests the OCCs review within 30 days of the effective date of the final retail forex rule and submits such information as the OCC may request within the timeframe the OCC provides will be deemed to be operating its retail forex business pursuant to a rule or regulation of a Federal regulatory agency, as required under the CEA, for such period. 33 A national bank need not join a futures self-regulatory organization as a condition of conducting a retail forex business. The commenter supported the adoption of this section, and the OCC adopts it as proposed. Section 48.5mdashApplication and Closing Out of Offsetting Long and Short Positions This section requires a national bank to close out offsetting long and short positions in a retail forex account. The national bank would have to offset such positions regardless of whether the customer has instructed otherwise. The CFTC concluded that keeping open long and short positions in a retail forex customers account removes the opportunity for the customer to profit on the transactions, increases the fees paid by the customer, and invites abuse. 34 The OCC agreed with this concern in the notice of proposed rulemaking. The commenter stated that a customer should be permitted to provide instructions with respect to the manner in which the customers retail forex transaction are offset when: (i) The customer maintains separate accounts managed by different advisors (ii) the customer maintains separate accounts using different trading strategies or (iii) the customer employs different trading strategies in one account and applies certain orders to risk-manage that exposure. The commenter also sought clarification that a customer could provide specific offset instructions in writing or orally, and that those instructions can be made on a blanket basis. The OCC agrees that a customer should be able to offset retail forex transactions in a particular manner, if he or she so chooses. Paragraph (c) has been modified to provide that, notwithstanding the default offset rules in paragraphs (a) and (b), the national bank must offset retail forex transactions pursuant to a customers specific instructions. Blanket instructions are not sufficient for this purpose, as they could obviate the default rule. However, offset instructions need not be given separately for each pair of orders in order to be ldquospecific. rdquo Instructions that apply to sufficiently defined sets of transactions could be specific enough. Finally, consistent with the changes to sectthinsp48.12, retail forex customers may make offset instructions in writing or orally. The national bank must create and maintain a record of each offset instruction. 35 Section 48.6mdashDisclosure This section requires a national bank to provide retail forex customers with a risk disclosure statement similar to the one required by the CFTCs retail forex rule but tailored to address certain unique characteristics of retail forex in national banks. The prescribed risk disclosure statement would describe the risks associated with retail forex transactions. The commenter agreed with the need for a robust risk disclosure statement but suggested that a shorter, clearer, more direct, and less redundant statement would be more effective. The final rule incorporates several changes to the disclosures to eliminate redundancies, address ambiguities, and convey the information more clearly. The proposal requested comment on whether the risk disclosure statement should disclose the percentage of profitable retail forex accounts. The commenter said that disclosing the ratio of profitable to nonprofitable retail forex accounts is not useful because those ratios depend on many factors (including the trading expertise of customers) and could suggest one national bank is a more attractive retail forex counterparty than another. In its retail forex rule, the CFTC requires its registrants to disclose to retail customers the percentage of retail forex accounts that earned a profit and the percentage of such accounts that experienced a loss during each of the most recent four calendar quarters. 36 The CFTC explained that the vast majority of retail customers who enter these transactions do so solely for speculative purposes and that relatively few of these participants trade profitably. 37 In its final rule, the CFTC found this requirement appropriate to protect retail customers from inherent conflicts embedded in the operations of the retail over-the-counter forex industry. 38 The OCC agrees with the CFTC and the final rule requires this disclosure. The proposal requested comment on whether the risk disclosure statement should include a disclosure that when a retail customer loses money trading, the dealer makes money. The commenter said that this disclosure is inaccurate because the bank immediately hedges retail forex transactions or nets them with similar transactions and therefore does not profit from exchange rate fluctuations. The commenter argued it is more accurate to inform customers that the bank may or does mark-up (or mark-down) transactions or apply commission rates to transactions that will create income for the bank. The OCC understands that the economic model of a retail forex business may be to profit from spreads, fees, and commissions. Nonetheless, because a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions is trading as principal, by definition, when the retail forex customer loses money on a retail forex transaction, the national bank makes money on that transaction. The OCC therefore believes that this disclosure is accurate and helps potential retail forex customers understand the nature of retail forex transactions. Similarly, the CFTCs retail forex rule requires a disclosure that when a retail customer loses money Start Printed Page 41379 trading, the dealer makes money on such trades, in addition to any fees, commissions, or spreads. 39 The final rule includes this disclosure requirement. The proposal asked whether it would be convenient to national banks and retail forex customers to allow the retail forex risk disclosure to be combined with other disclosures that national banks make to their customers. The commenter asked the OCC to confirm that national banks may add topics to the risk disclosure statement. The OCC is concerned that the effectiveness of the disclosure could be diminished if surrounded by other topics. Therefore, the final rule requires the risk disclosure statement to be given to potential retail forex customers as set forth in the rule. National banks may describe and provide additional information on retail forex transactions in a separate document. The commenter further asked the OCC to confirm that the risk disclosure statement may be appended to account opening agreements or forms and that a single signature by the customer on a combined account agreement and disclosure form can be used as long as the customer is directed to and acknowledges the risk disclosure statement immediately prior to the signature line. The OCC believes that a separate risk disclosure document appropriately highlights the risks in retail forex transactions and that requiring a separate signature for the separate risk disclosure appropriately calls a potential retail forex customers attention to the risk disclosure statement. However, a national bank may attach the risk disclosure to a related document, such as the account agreement. The proposal requested comment on whether the risk disclosure statement should include a disclosure of fees that the national bank charges to retail forex customers. The commenter agreed that the disclosure of fees is appropriate, but should not include income from hedging retail forex customers positions or income streams not charged to the customer. Moreover, the commenter stated that it is impractical to numerically state the bid/ask spread given that it may vary. The final rule, like the proposed rule, does not require national banks to disclose income streams not charged to the retail forex customer. However, a national bank must do more than simply describe the means by which it earns revenue. To the extent practical, it must quantify the fees, charges, spreads, or commissions that the national bank may impose on the retail forex customer in connection with the customers retail forex account or a retail forex transaction. 40 The OCC further believes that disclosure of the bid/ask spread is possible in a variety of ways. If a national bank bases its prices off of the prices provided by a third party, then the national bank may disclose the use of the third partys pricing and the markup charged to retail forex customers. Alternatively, the national bank may disclose the bid/ask spread by quoting both the bid and ask prices to retail forex customers prior to entering into a retail forex transaction. These quotes may be provided as part of an electronic trading platform or, after a retail forex customer calls the national bank for a retail forex transaction, by providing both a bid and ask price for the transaction. The commenter read the disclosure to suggest that the national bank cannot seek to recover losses not covered by a customers margin account via an appropriate dispute resolution forum and asked the OCC to confirm that this was not the case. Section 48.9(d)(4) requires a national bank, in the event that a retail forex customers margin falls below the amount needed to satisfy the margin requirement to either: (1) Collect sufficient margin from the retail forex customer or (2) liquidate the retail forex customers retail forex transactions. The final rule does not forbid a national bank from seeking to recover a deficiency from a retail forex customer in an appropriate venue. The disclosure has been revised to make this fact clear. Finally, the commenter said that the disclosure regarding the availability of FDIC-insurance for retail forex transactions should be clarified. The disclosure requires a national bank to state that retail forex transactions are not FDIC-insured. The commenter agreed with that statement. It noted, however, that margin funds may be insured deposits. The FDIC-insured status of funds held in a retail forex margin account will depend on whether such funds are held in a manner that meets the requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and its implementing regulations. National banks may accurately disclose the availability of FDIC insurance for retail forex margin accounts in a separate document as permitted by law. Section 48.7mdashRecordkeeping This section specifies which documents and records that a national bank engaged in retail forex transactions must retain for examination by the OCC. This section also prescribes document maintenance standards. The OCC notes that records may be kept electronically as permitted under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. 41 The OCC received no comments on this section. Recordkeeping requirements found in sectthinsp48.13(a)(3) of the proposed rule were moved into this section to centralize recordkeeping requirements in one section. Furthermore, the recordkeeping requirements have been modified to accommodate oral orders and offset instructions. A national bank must create an audio recording of oral orders and offset instructions. Section 48.8mdashCapital Requirements This section requires that a national bank that offers or enters into retail forex transactions must be ldquowell capitalizedrdquo as defined in the OCCs prompt corrective action regulation. 42 In addition, a national bank must continue to hold capital against retail forex transactions as provided in the OCCs capital regulation. 43 This rule does not amend the OCCs prompt corrective action regulation or capital regulation. The proposed rule contained a provision allowing the OCC to exempt a national bank from the well-capitalized requirement. This provision has been removed in light of the general reservation of authority in sectthinsp48.17. Section 48.9mdashMargin Requirements Paragraph (a) requires a national bank that engages in retail forex transactions, in advance of any such transaction, to collect from the retail forex customer margin equal to at least 2 percent of the notional value of the retail forex transaction if the transaction is in a major currency pair and at least 5 percent of the notional value of the retail forex transaction otherwise. These margin requirements are identical to the requirements imposed by the CFTCs retail forex rule. The proposal requested comments on whether it should define the major currencies in the final rule but did not receive any. The final rule adopts the proposals approach to identifying the major currencies. A major currency pair is a currency pair with two major currencies. The Start Printed Page 41380 major currencies currently are the U. S. Dollar (USD), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Euro (EUR), United Kingdom Pound (GBP), Japanese Yen (JPY), Swiss Franc (CHF), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Swedish Kronor (SEK), Danish Kroner (DKK), and Norwegian Krone (NOK). 44 An evolving market could change the major currencies, so the OCC is not proposing to define the term ldquomajor currency, rdquo but rather expects that national banks will obtain an interpretive letter from the OCC prior to treating any currency other than those listed above as a ldquomajor currency. rdquothinsp 45 For retail forex transactions, margin protects the retail forex customer from the risks related to trading with excessive leverage. The volatility of the foreign currency markets exposes retail forex customers to substantial risk of loss. High leverage ratios can significantly increase a customers losses and gains. Even a small move against a customers position can result in a substantial loss. Even with required margin, losses can exceed the margin posted and, if the account is not closed out, and, depending on the specific circumstances, the customer could be liable for additional losses. Given the risks that are inherent in the trading of retail forex transactions by retail customers, the only funds that should be invested in such transactions are those that the customer can afford to lose. Prior to the CFTCs rule, nonbank dealers routinely permitted customers to trade with 1 percent margin (leverage of 100:1) and sometimes with as little as 0.25 percent margin (leverage of 400:1). When the CFTC proposed its retail forex rule in January 2010, it proposed a margin requirement of 10 percent (leverage of 10:1). In response to comments, the CFTC reduced the required margin in the final rule to 2 percent (leverage of 50:1) for trades involving major currencies and 5 percent (leverage of 20:1) for trades involving non-major currencies. The proposal requested comment on whether these margin requirements were appropriate to protect retail forex customers. The commenter did not object to the amount of margin required. However, the commenter suggested that the margin required by this paragraph should be initial margin rather than maintenance margin. The commenter also suggested that national banks be allowed to set maintenance margin levels as a matter of the banks credit and risk policies in a manner that balances (i) protecting customers from a forced close-put of their positions as soon as an adverse market move erodes margin under the 2 or 5 percent minimum level with (ii) the need to promptly collect margin and close out positions when a customer fails to meet a margin call. The commenter also suggested that customers should have some reasonable time to meet margin calls before they are deemed to have defaulted and face a forced liquidation of their positions. Subject to reasonable collection times as described below, a national bank must ensure that there is always sufficient margin in a retail forex customers margin account for the customers open retail forex transactions. If the amount of margin in a retail forex customers margin account is insufficient to meet the requirements of paragraph (a), then sectthinsp48.9(d)(4) requires the national bank to make a margin call to replenish the margin account to an acceptable level and, if the customer does not comply with the margin call, to liquidate the retail forex customers retail forex transactions. Retail forex customers should have a reasonable amount of time to post required margin for retail forex transactions. Market practice is for retail forex counterparties to make margin calls at the close of trading on a trading day based on margin levels at the end of that day or at the open of trading on the next trading day based on margin levels at the end of that prior day. If the retail forex customer does not post sufficient margin by the end of the next close of trading, then the retail forex counterparty liquidates the customers retail forex account. In other words, by the close of business on a given trading day, the margin account must be sufficient to meet the margin requirements as at the end of the prior trading day. Paragraph (b) specifies the acceptable forms of margin that customers may post. National banks must establish policies and procedures providing for haircuts for noncash margin collected from customers and must review these haircuts annually. It may be prudent for national banks to review and modify the size of the haircuts more frequently. The OCC requested comment on whether the final rule should specify haircuts for noncash margin. The OCC received no comments on this paragraph and adopts this paragraph as proposed. Paragraph (c) requires a national bank to hold each retail forex customers retail forex transaction margin in a separate account. This paragraph is designed to work with the prohibition on set-off in paragraph (e), so that a national bank may not have an account agreement that treats all of a retail forex customers assets held by a bank as margin for retail forex transactions. The commenter requested clarification that this paragraph allows national banks to place margin into an omnibus or commingled account for operational convenience, provided that the bank keeps records of each customers margin balance. A national bank may place margin collected from retail forex customers into an omnibus or commingled account if the bank keeps records of each retail forex customers margin balance. A ldquoseparate accountrdquo is one separate from the retail forex customers other accounts at the bank. For example, margin for retail forex transactions cannot be held in a retail forex customers savings account. Funds in a savings account pledged as retail forex margin must be transferred to a separate margin account, which could be an individual or an omnibus margin account. The final rule contains slightly modified language to clarify this intent. The FDIC-insured status of funds held in an omnibus account will depend on whether such funds are held in a manner that meets the requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and its implementing regulations. Paragraph (d) requires a national bank to collect additional margin from the customer or to liquidate the customers position if the amount of margin held by the national bank fails to meet the requirements of paragraph (a). The proposed rule would have required the national bank to mark the customers open retail forex positions and the value of the customers margin to the market daily to ensure that a retail forex customer does not accumulate substantial losses not covered by margin. The proposal requested comment on how frequently retail forex customers margin accounts should be marked to market. The commenter asked that the final rules permit marking to market more frequently than daily if the national banks systems and customer agreements permit. The final rule, like the proposed rule, requires marking to market at least once per day. Nothing in paragraph (d) forbids a more frequent schedule. Start Printed Page 41381 Paragraph (e) prohibits a national bank from applying a retail forex customers retail forex obligations against any asset or liability of the retail forex customer other than money or property pledged as margin. 46 A national banks relationship with a retail forex customer may evolve out of a prior relationship of providing financial services or may evolve into such a relationship. Thus, it is more likely that a national bank acting as a retail forex counterparty will hold other assets or liabilities of a retail forex customer, for example a deposit account or mortgage, than a retail forex dealer regulated by the CFTC. The OCC believes that it is inappropriate to allow a national bank to leave trades open and allow additional obligations to accrue that can be applied against a retail forex customers other assets or liabilities held by the national bank. However, should a retail forex customers retail forex obligations exceed the amount of margin he or she has pledged, this rule does not forbid a national bank from seeking to recover the deficiency in an appropriate forum, such as a court of law. Paragraph (e) does not apply to debts a retail forex customer owes to a national bank as recognized in a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction. The commenter suggested that retail forex customers should be able to pledge assets other than those held in the customers margin account. For example, a customer could nominate a deposit account as containing margin for its retail forex transactions. Nothing in this rule prevents retail forex customers from pledging other assets they have at the bank as margin for retail forex transactions. However, once those assets are pledged as margin, the national bank must transfer them to the separate margin account. For example, if a retail forex customer pledges 500 in her checking account as margin, then the bank must deduct 500 from the checking account and place 500 in the margin account. The OCC believes this transfer appropriately alerts retail forex customers to the nature of the pledge. A national bank may not evade this requirement by merely taking a security interest in assets pledged as margin: pledged assets must be placed in a separate margin account. Section 48.10mdashRequired Reporting to Customers This section requires a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions to provide each retail forex customer a monthly statement and confirmation statements. The proposal sought comment on whether this section provides for statements that would be useful and meaningful to retail forex customers or whether other information would be more appropriate. The commenter sought clarification that the statements may be provided electronically, and also suggested that retail forex customers would be better served with continuous online access to account information rather than monthly statements. The OCC encourages national banks to provide real-time, continuous access to account information. This rule does not prevent national banks from doing so. However, the OCC believes it is valuable to require national banks to provide retail forex account information to retail forex customers at least once per month. Monthly statements may be provided electronically as permitted under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. 47 Section 48.11mdashUnlawful Representations This section prohibits a national bank and its institution-affiliated parties from representing that the Federal government, the OCC, or any other Federal agency has sponsored, recommended, or approved retail forex transactions or products in any way. This section also prohibits a national bank from implying or representing that it will guarantee against or limit retail forex customer losses or not collect margin as required by sectthinsp48.9. This section does not prohibit a national bank from sharing in a loss resulting from error or mishandling of an order. Guaranties entered into prior to effectiveness of the prohibition would only be affected if an attempt is made to extend, modify, or renew them. This section also does not prohibit a national bank from hedging or otherwise mitigating its own exposure to retail forex transactions or any other foreign exchange risk. The OCC received no comments to this section and adopts it as proposed. Section 48.12mdashAuthorization to Trade The proposed rule required national banks to have specific written authorization from a retail forex customer before effecting a retail forex transaction. The commenter said that requiring specific written authorization from a retail forex customer before effecting a retail forex transaction for that customer would be burdensome and detrimental to the customers interests, if, for example, the customer cannot convey written instructions because of technical difficulties. The OCC agrees with this concern and further notes that the CFTCs retail forex rule does not require written authorization for each retail forex transaction. The final rule requires a national bank to obtain a retail forex customers specific authorization (written or oral) to effect a particular trade. National banks must keep records of authorizations to trade pursuant to this rule. Section 48.13mdashTrading and Operational Standards This section largely follows the trading standards of the CFTCs retail forex rule, which were developed to prevent some of the deceptive or unfair practices identified by the CFTC and the National Futures Association. Under paragraph (a), a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions is required to establish and enforce internal rules, procedures, and controls (1) to prevent front running, a practice in which transactions in accounts of the national bank or its related persons are executed before a similar customer order and (2) to establish settlement prices fairly and objectively. The commenter requested clarification that the prohibition on front running applies only when the person entering orders for the banks account or the account of related persons has knowledge of unexecuted retail customer orders, and that a national bank may comply with this provision by erecting a firewall between the retail forex order book and other forex trading desks. The final rule requires national banks to establish reasonable policies, procedures, and controls to address front running. This provision is designed to prevent the national banks from unfairly taking advantage of information they gain from customer trades. Effective firewalls and information barriers are reasonable policies, procedures, and controls to ensure that a national bank does not take unfair advantage of its retail forex customers. The final rule clarifies paragraph (a) accordingly. Paragraph (b) prohibits a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions from disclosing that it Start Printed Page 41382 holds another persons order unless disclosure is necessary for execution or is made at the OCCs request. The OCC received no comments on this paragraph and adopts this paragraph as proposed. Paragraph (c) ensures that related persons of another retail forex counterparty do not open accounts with a national bank without the knowledge and authorization of the account surveillance personnel of the other retail forex counterparty with which they are affiliated. Similarly, paragraph (d) ensures that related persons of a national bank do not open accounts with other retail forex counterparties without the knowledge and authorization of the account surveillance personnel of the national bank with which they are affiliated. The commenter requested confirmation that national banks may rely on a representation of potential customers that they are not affiliated with a retail forex counterparty. Paragraph (c) prohibits a national bank from knowingly handling the retail forex account of a related person of a retail forex counterparty. To the extent reasonable, national banks may rely on representations of potential retail forex customers. If, however, a national bank has actual knowledge that a retail forex customer is a related person of a retail forex counterparty, then no representation by the customer will allow the bank to handle that retail forex account. A national bank should inquire as to whether a potential retail forex customer is related to a retail forex counterparty to avoid violating paragraph (c) through willful ignorance. The commenter also requested clarification that these paragraphs apply only to employees of firms that offer retail forex transactions, and, in the case of banks, only employees of the retail forex business and not any employee of the bank that offers retail forex transactions. The OCC agrees that the prohibitions in paragraph (c) and (d) should only apply to employees working in the retail forex business paragraphs (c) and (d) are designed to prevent evasion of the prohibition against front running. The final rule clarifies this point. Paragraph (e) prohibits a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions from (1) entering a retail forex transaction to be executed at a price that is not at or near prices at which other retail forex customers have executed materially similar transactions with the national bank during the same time period, (2) changing prices after confirmation, (3) providing a retail forex customer with a new bid price that is higher (or lower) than previously provided without providing a new ask price that is similarly higher (or lower) as well, and (4) establishing a new position for a retail forex customer (except to offset an existing position) if the national bank holds one or more outstanding orders of other retail forex customers for the same currency pair at a comparable price. Paragraph (e)(3) does not prevent a national bank from changing the bid or ask prices of a retail forex transaction to respond to market events. The OCC understands that market practice among CFTC-registrants is not to offer requotes but to simply reject orders and advise customers they may submit a new order (which the dealer may or may not accept). Similarly, a national bank may reject an order and advise customers that they may submit a new order. The proposal sought comment on whether paragraph (e)(3) appropriately protected retail forex customers or whether a prohibition on re-quoting would be simpler. The commenter argued that the prohibition on re-quoting in paragraph (e)(3) is overly broad and should permit new bids or offers to reflect updated spreads. In the alternative, the commenter suggested prohibiting re-quoting and requiring that, in the event an order is not confirmed, the customer must submit a new order at the then-currently displayed price. As stated above, rather than allowing requotes, a national bank may reject orders and request that customers submit a new order. Paragraph (e)(3) is consistent with the CFTCs retail forex rule and the OCC adopts it as proposed. Paragraph (e)(4) requires a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions to execute similar orders in the order they are received. The prohibition prevents a national bank from offering preferred execution to some of its retail forex customers but not others. Section 48.14mdashSupervision This section imposes on a national bank and its agents, officers, and employees a duty to supervise subordinates with responsibility for retail forex transactions to ensure compliance with the OCCs retail forex rule. The proposal requested comment on whether this section imposed requirements not already encompassed by safety and soundness standards. Having received no comments to this section, the OCC adopts it as proposed. Section 48.15mdashNotice of Transfers This section describes the requirements for transferring a retail forex account. Generally, a national bank must provide retail forex customers 30 days prior notice before transferring or assigning their account. Affected customers may then instruct the national bank to transfer the account to an institution of their choosing or liquidate the account. There are three exceptions to the above notice requirement: a transfer in connection with the receivership or conservatorship under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act a transfer pursuant to a retail forex customers specific request and a transfer otherwise allowed by applicable law. A national bank that is the transferee of retail forex accounts must generally provide the transferred customers with the risk disclosure statement of sectthinsp48.6 and obtain each affected customers written acknowledgement within 60 days. The OCC received no comments to this section and adopts it as proposed. Section 48.16mdashCustomer Dispute Resolution This section imposes limitations on how a national bank may handle disputes arising out of a retail forex transaction. For example, this section would restrict a national banks ability to require mandatory arbitration for such disputes. The OCC received no comments to this section and adopts is as proposed. Section 48.17mdashReservation of Authority This section allows the OCC to modify certain requirements of this rule consistent with safety and soundness and the protection of retail forex customers. The OCC understands the need for flexibility as foreign exchange products or foreign exchange trading procedures develop and to ensure that such products or trading procedures are subject to appropriate customer protection and safety and soundness standards. V. Regulatory Analysis A. Regulatory Flexibility Act The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U. S.C. 601 et seq., generally requires an agency that is issuing a proposed rule to prepare and make available for public comment an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the impact of the proposed rule on small entities. The RFA provides that an agency is not required to prepare and publish an initial regulatory flexibility analysis if the agency certifies that the proposed rule will not, if promulgated as a final rule, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Under regulations issued by the Start Printed Page 41383 Small Business Administration, a small entity includes a commercial bank with assets of 175 million or less. 48 This rule as proposed would impose recordkeeping and disclosure requirements on banks, including small banks, which engage in retail forex transactions with their customers. Pursuant to section 605(b) of the RFA, the OCC certified that this rule, as proposed, would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of the small entities it supervises. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not required. In making this determination, the OCC estimated that there were no small banking organizations currently engaging in retail forex transactions with their customers. Therefore, the OCC estimates that no small banking organizations under its supervision would be affected by this final rule. B. Paperwork Reduction Act In conjunction with the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), 49 the OCC submitted the information collection requirements contained therein to OMB for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). In response, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) filed comments with the OCC in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.11 (c). The comments indicated that OMB was withholding approval at that time. The Agencies were directed to examine public comment in response to the NPRM and include in the supporting statement of the information collection request (ICR) to be filed at the final rule stage a description of how the agency has responded to any public comments on the ICR, including comments maximizing the practical utility of the collection and minimizing the burden. The OCC received one comment addressing the substance and/or method of the disclosure and reporting requirements contained in the proposed rule. This comment and the OCCs response to the comment is included in the preamble discussion and in a revised Supporting Statement submitted to OMB. The information collection requirements contained in this final rule have been submitted by the OCC to OMB for review and approval under 44 U. S.C. 3506 and 5 CFR part 1320. In accordance with section 3512 of the PRA, 44 U. S.C. 3512. the OCC may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The information collection requirements are found in sectsectthinsp48.4-48.7, 48.9-48.10, 48.13, and 48.15-48.16. Comments continue to be invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the OCCs functions, including whether the information has practical utility (b) The accuracy of the estimate of the burden of the information collection, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected (d) Ways to minimize the burden of information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology and (e) Estimates of capital or startup costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information. All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments should be addressed to: Communications Division, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Public Information Room, Mailstop 2-3, Attention: 1557-0250, 250 E Street, SW. Washington, DC 20219. In addition, comments may be sent by fax to 202-874-5274, or by electronic mail to regsmentsocc. treas. gov . You may personally inspect and photocopy comments at the OCC, 250 E Street, SW. Washington, DC 20219. For security reasons, the OCC requires that visitors make an appointment to inspect comments. You may do so by calling 202-874-4700. Upon arrival, visitors will be required to present valid government-issued photo identification and submit to security screening in order to inspect and photocopy comments. Additionally, you should send a copy of your comments to the OMB Desk Officer, by mail to U. S. Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW. 10235, Washington, DC 20503, or by fax to 202-395-6974. Proposed Information Collection Title of Information Collection: Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions. Frequency of Response: On occasion. Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit. Respondents: National banks and Federal branches and agencies of foreign banks. Reporting Requirements The reporting requirements in sectthinsp48.4 require that, prior to initiating a retail forex business, a national bank provide the OCC with prior notice and obtain a written supervisory non-objection letter. In order to obtain a supervisory non-objection letter, a national bank must have written policies and procedures and risk measurement and management systems and controls in place to ensure that retail forex transactions are conducted in a safe and sound manner. The national bank must also provide other information required by the OCC, such as documentation of customer due diligence, new product approvals, and haircuts applied to noncash margins. A national bank already engaging in a retail forex business may continue to do so, provided it requests an extension of time. Disclosure Requirements Section 48.5, regarding the application and closing out of offsetting long and short positions, requires a national bank to promptly provide the customer with a statement reflecting the financial result of the transactions and the name of the introducing broker to the account. The customer provides specific written instructions on how the offsetting transaction should be applied. Section 48.6 requires that a national bank furnish a retail forex customer with a written disclosure before opening an account that will engage in retail forex transactions for a retail forex customer and receive an acknowledgment from the customer that it was received and understood. It also requires the disclosure by a national bank of its fees and other charges and its profitable accounts ratio. Section 48.10 requires a national bank to issue monthly statements to each retail forex customer and to send confirmation statements following transactions. Section 48.13(b) allows disclosure by a national bank that an order of another person is being held by them only when necessary to the effective execution of the order or when the disclosure is requested by the OCC. Section 48.13(c) prohibits a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions from knowingly handling the account of any related person of another retail forex counterparty unless it receives proper written authorization, promptly prepares a written record of the order, and transmits to the counterparty copies all statements and written records. Section 48.13(d) prohibits a related person of a national bank engaging in forex transactions from having an account with another retail forex counterparty unless the counterparty receives proper written authorization and transmits copies of all statements Start Printed Page 41384 and written records for the related persons retail forex accounts to the national bank. Section 48.15 requires a national bank to provide a retail forex customer with 30 days prior notice of any assignment of any position or transfer of any account of the retail forex customer. It also requires a national bank to which retail forex accounts or positions are assigned or transferred to provide the affected customers with risk disclosure statements and forms of acknowledgment and receive the signed acknowledgments within 60 days. The customer dispute resolution provisions in sectthinsp48.16 requires certain endorsements, acknowledgments, and signature language. Section 48.16 also requires that within 10 days after receipt of notice from the retail forex customer that the customer intends to submit a claim to arbitration, the national bank provides to the customer a list of persons qualified in the dispute resolution, and that the customer must notify the national bank of the person selected within 45 days of receipt of such list. Policies and Procedures Recordkeeping Sections 48.7 and 48.13(a) require that a national bank engaging in retail forex transactions keep full, complete, and systematic records and establish and implement internal rules, procedures, and controls. Section 48.7 also requires that a national bank keep account, financial ledger, transaction and daily records price logs records of methods used to determine bids or asked prices memorandum orders post-execution allocation of bunched orders records regarding its ratio of profitable accounts and possible violations of law records for noncash margin order tickets and monthly statements and confirmations. Section 48.9 requires policies and procedures for haircuts for noncash margin collected under the rules margin requirements and annual evaluations and modifications of the haircuts. Estimated PRA Burden Estimated Number of Respondents: 42 national banks 3 service providers. Total Reporting Burden: 672 hours. Total Disclosure Burden: 54,166 hours. Total Recordkeeping Burden: 12,416 hours. Total Annual Burden: 67,254 hours. C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Unfunded Mandates Act), 2 U. S.C. 1532. requires that an agency prepare a budgetary impact statement before promulgating any rule likely to result in a Federal mandate that may result in the expenditure by State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of 100 million or more in any one year. If a budgetary impact statement is required, section 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Act also requires an agency to identify and consider a reasonable number of regulatory alternatives before promulgating a rule. The OCC has determined that this rule will not result in expenditures by State, local, and tribal governments, or by the private sector, of 100 million or more in any one year. 50 Accordingly, this final rule is not subject to section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Act. D. Effective Date Under the Administrative Procedures Act This final rule takes effect on July 15, 2011. 5 U. S.C. 553 (d)(1) requires publication of a substantive rule not less than 30 days before its effective date, except in cases in which the rule grants or recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction. Section 2(c)(2)(E)(ii) of the CEA would prohibit national banks from engaging in retail forex transactions unless this final rule becomes effective on July 16, 2011. This final rule would relieve that restriction and allow national banks to continue to engage in retail forex transactions without delay. Furthermore, under 5 U. S.C. 553 (d)(3), an agency may find good cause to publish a rule less than 30 days before its effective date. The OCC finds such good cause, as the 30-day delayed effective date is unnecessary under the provisions of the final rule. In sectthinsp48.4(c) of the final rule, the OCC allows national banks a 30-day grace period to inform the OCC of its retail forex activity, along with up to a six-month window to comply with the provisions of the retail forex rule. E. Effective Date Under the CDRI Act The Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (CDRI Act), 12 U. S.C. 4801 et seq., provides that new regulations that impose additional reporting or disclosure requirements on insured depository institutions do not take effect until the first day of a calendar quarter after the regulation is published, unless the agency determines there is good cause for the regulation to become effective at an earlier date. The OCC finds good cause that this final rule should become effective on July 15, 2011, as it would be in the public interest to require the disclosure and consumer protection provisions in this rule to take effect at this earlier date. If the rule did not become effective until October 1, 2011, then national banks would not be able to provide retail forex transactions to customers to meet their financial needs. Start List of Subjects List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 48 For the reasons stated in the preamble, part 48 to Title 12, Chapter I of the Code of Federal Regulations is added to read as follows: PART 48mdashRETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS 48.1 Authority, purpose, and scope. 48.2 Definitions. 48.3 Prohibited transactions. 48.4 Supervisory non-objection. 48.5 Application and closing out of offsetting long and short positions. 48.6 Disclosure. 48.7 Recordkeeping. 48.8 Capital requirements. 48.9 Margin requirements. 48.10 Required reporting to customers. 48.11 Unlawful representations. 48.12 Authorization to trade. 48.13 Trading and operational standards. 48.14 Supervision. 48.15 Notice of transfers. 48.16 Customer dispute resolution. 48.17 Reservation of authority. Authority, purpose, and scope. (a) Authority. A national bank may engage in retail foreign exchange transactions. A national bank engaging in such transactions must comply with the requirements of this part. (b) Purpose. This part establishes rules applicable to retail foreign exchange transactions engaged in by national banks and applies on or after the effective date. (c) Scope. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, this part applies to national banks. (d) International applicability. Sections 48.3 and 48.5 to 48.16 do not apply to retail foreign exchange transactions between a foreign branch of a national bank and a non-U. S. customer. With respect to those transactions, the foreign branch remains Start Printed Page 41385 subject to any disclosure, recordkeeping, capital, margin, reporting, business conduct, documentation, and other requirements of foreign law applicable to the branch. In addition to the definitions in this section, for purposes of this part, the following terms have the same meaning as in the Commodity Exchange Act: ldquoAffiliated person of a futures commission merchantrdquo ldquoassociated personrdquo ldquocontract of salerdquo ldquocommodityrdquo ldquoeligible contract participantrdquo ldquofutures commission merchantrdquo ldquofuture deliveryrdquo ldquooptionrdquo ldquosecurityrdquo and ldquosecurity futures productrdquo. Affiliate has the same meaning as in section 2(k) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U. S.C. 1841 (k)). Commodity Exchange Act means the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U. S.C. 1 et seq. ). Forex significa câmbio. Identified banking product has the same meaning as in section 401(b) of the Legal Certainty for Bank Products Act of 2000 (7 U. S.C. 27 (b)). Institution-affiliated party or IAP has the same meaning as in section 3(u)(1), (2), or (3) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U. S.C. 1813 (u)(1), (2), or (3)). Introducing broker means any person that solicits or accepts orders from a retail forex customer in connection with retail forex transactions. National bank means: (1) A national bank (2) A Federal branch or agency of a foreign bank, each as defined in 12 U. S.C. 3101 and (3) An operating subsidiary of a national bank or an operating subsidiary of a Federal branch or agency of a foreign bank. Related person, when used in reference to a retail forex counterparty, means: (1) Any general partner, officer, director, or owner of 10 percent or more of the capital stock of the retail forex counterparty (2) An associated person or employee of the retail forex counterparty, if the retail forex counterparty is not a national bank (3) An IAP of the retail forex counterparty, if the retail forex counterparty is a national bank and (4) A relative or spouse of any of the foregoing persons, or a relative of such spouse, who shares the same home as any of the foregoing persons. Retail foreign exchange dealer means any person other than a retail forex customer that is, or that offers to be, the counterparty to a retail forex transaction, except for a person described in item (aa), (bb), (cc)(AA), (dd), or (ff) of section 2(c)(2)(B)(i)(II) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U. S.C. 2 (c)(2)(B)(i)(II)). Retail forex account means the account of a retail forex customer, established with a national bank, in which retail forex transactions with the national bank as counterparty are undertaken, or the account of a retail forex customer that is established in order to enter into such transactions. Retail forex account agreement means the contractual agreement between a national bank and a retail forex customer that contains the terms governing the customers retail forex account with the national bank. Retail forex business means engaging in one or more retail forex transactions with the intent to derive income from those transactions, either directly or indirectly. Retail forex counterparty includes, as appropriate: (1) A national bank (2) A retail foreign exchange dealer (3) A futures commission merchant and (4) An affiliated person of a futures commission merchant. Retail forex customer means a customer that is not an eligible contract participant, acting on his, her, or its own behalf and engaging in retail forex transactions. Retail forex obligation means an obligation of a retail forex customer with respect to a retail forex transaction, including trading losses, fees, spreads, charges, and commissions. Retail forex proprietary account means: A retail forex account carried on the books of a national bank for one of the following persons a retail forex account of which 10 percent or more is owned by one of the following persons or a retail forex account of which an aggregate of 10 percent or more of which is owned by more than one of the following persons: (1) The national bank (2) An officer, director, or owner of 10 percent or more of the capital stock of the national bank or (3) An employee of the national bank, whose duties include: (i) The management of the national banks business (ii) The handling of the national banks retail forex transactions (iii) The keeping of records, including without limitation the software used to make or maintain those records, pertaining to the national banks retail forex transactions or (iv) The signing or co-signing of checks or drafts on behalf of the national bank (4) A spouse or minor dependent living in the same household as any of the foregoing persons or (5) An affiliate of the national bank. Retail forex transaction means an agreement, contract, or transaction in foreign currency, other than an identified banking product or a part of an identified banking product, that is offered or entered into by a national bank with a person that is not an eligible contract participant and that is: (1) A contract of sale of a commodity for future delivery or an option on such a contract (2) An option, other than an option executed or traded on a national securities exchange registered pursuant to section 6(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. S.C. 78 (f)(a)) or (3) Offered or entered into on a leveraged or margined basis, or financed by a national bank, its affiliate, or any person acting in concert with the national bank or its affiliate on a similar basis, other than: (i) A security that is not a security futures product as defined in section 1a(47) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U. S.C. 1 a(47)) or (ii) A contract of sale that: (A) Results in actual delivery within two da ys or (B) Creates an enforceable obligation to deliver between a seller and buyer that have the ability to deliver and accept delivery, respectively, in connection with their line of business or (iii) An agreement, contract, or transaction that the OCC determines is not functionally or economically similar to: (A) A contract of sale of a commodity for future delivery or an option on such a contract or (B) An option, other than an option executed or traded on a national securities exchange registered pursuant to section 6(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. S.C. 78 (f)(a)). (a) Fraudulent conduct prohibited. No national bank or its IAPs may, directly or indirectly, in or in connection with any retail forex transaction: (1) Cheat or defraud or attempt to cheat or defraud any person (2) Willfully make or cause to be made to any person any false report or statement or cause to be entered for any person any false record or Start Printed Page 41386 (3) Willfully deceive or attempt to deceive any person by any means whatsoever. (b) Acting as counterparty and exercising discretion prohibited. If a national bank can cause retail forex transactions to be effected for a retail forex customer without the retail forex customers specific authorization, then neither the national bank nor its affiliates may act as the counterparty for any retail forex transaction with that retail forex customer. (a) Supervisory non-objection required. Before commencing a retail forex business, a national bank must provide the OCC with prior notice and obtain from the OCC a written supervisory non-objection. (b) Requirements for obtaining supervisory non-objection. (1) In order to obtain a written supervisory non-objection, a national bank must: (i) Establish to the satisfaction of the OCC that the national bank has established and implemented written policies, procedures, and risk measurement and management systems and controls for the purpose of ensuring that it conducts retail forex transactions in a safe and sound manner and in compliance with this part and (ii) Provide such other information as the OCC may require. (2) The information provided under paragraph (b)(1) of this section must include, without limitation, information regarding: (i) Customer due diligence, including without limitation credit evaluations, customer appropriateness, and ldquoknow your customerrdquo documentation (ii) New product approvals (iii) The haircuts that the national bank will apply to noncash margin as provided in sectthinsp48.9(b)(2) and (iv) Conflicts of interest. (c) Treatment of existing retail forex businesses. A national bank that is engaged in a retail forex business on July 15, 2011, may continue to do so for up to six months, subject to an extension of time by the OCC, if it requests the supervisory non-objection required by paragraph (a) of this section within 30 days of July 15, 2011, and submits the information required to be submitted under paragraph (b) of this section. (d) Compliance with the Commodity Exchange Act. A national bank that is engaged in a retail forex business on July 15, 2011 and complies with paragraph (c) of this section will be deemed, during the six-month or extended period described in paragraph (c) of this section, to be acting pursuant to a rule or regulation described in section 2(c)(2)(E)(ii)(I) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U. S.C. 2 (c)(2)(E)(ii)(I)). Application and closing out of offsetting long and short positions. (a) Application of purchases and sales. Any national bank thatmdash (1) Engages in a retail forex transaction involving the purchase of any currency for the account of any retail forex customer when the account of such retail forex customer at the time of such purchase has an open retail forex transaction for the sale of the same currency (2) Engages in a retail forex transaction involving the sale of any currency for the account of any retail forex customer when the account of such retail forex customer at the time of such sale has an open retail forex transaction for the purchase of the same currency (3) Purchases a put or call option involving foreign currency for the account of any retail forex customer when the account of such retail forex customer at the time of such purchase has a short put or call option position with the same underlying currency, strike price, and expiration date as that purchased or (4) Sells a put or call option involving foreign currency for the account of any retail forex customer when the accou nt of such retail forex customer at the time of such sale has a long put or call option position with the same underlying currency, strike price, and expiration date as that sold must: (i) Immediately apply such purchase or sale against such previously held opposite transaction and (ii) Promptly furnish such retail forex customer with a statement showing the financial result of the transactions involved and the name of any introducing broker to the account. (b) Close-out against oldest open position. In all instances in which the short or long position in a customers retail forex account immediately prior to an offsetting purchase or sale is greater than the quantity purchased or sold, the national bank must apply such offsetting purchase or sale to the oldest portion of the previously held short or long position. (c) Transactions to be applied as directed by customer. Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, to the extent the national bank allows retail forex customers to use other methods of offsetting retail forex transactions, the offsetting transaction must be applied as directed by a retail forex customers specific instructions. These instructions may not be made by the national bank or an IAP of the national bank. (a) Risk disclosure statement required. No national bank may open or maintain open an account that will engage in retail forex transactions for a retail forex customer unless the national bank has furnished the retail forex customer with a separate written disclosure statement containing only the language set forth in paragraph (d) of this section and the disclosures required by paragraphs (e) and (f) of this section. (b) Acknowledgment of risk disclosure statement required. The national bank must receive from the retail forex customer a written acknowledgment signed and dated by the customer that the customer received and understood the written disclosure statement required by paragraph (a) of this section. (c) Placement of risk disclosure statement. The disclosure statement may be attached to other documents as the initial page(s) of such documents and as the only material on such page(s). (d) Content of risk disclosure statement. The language set forth in the written disclosure statement required by paragraph (a) of this section is as follows: Risk Disclosure Statement Retail forex transactions involve the leveraged trading of contracts denominated in foreign currency with a national bank as your counterparty. Because of the leverage and the other risks disclosed here, you can rapidly lose all of the funds or property you pledge to the national bank as margin for retail forex trading. You may lose more than you pledge as margin. If your margin falls below the required amount, and you fail to provide the required additional margin, your national bank is required to liquidate your retail forex transactions. Your national bank cannot apply your retail forex losses to any of your assets or liabilities at the bank other than funds or property that you have pledged as margin for retail forex transactions. However, if you lose more money than you have pledged as margin, the bank may seek to recover that deficiency in an appropriate forum, such as a court of law. You should be aware of and carefully consider the following points before determining whether retail forex trading is appropriate for you. (1) Trading is not on a regulated market or exchangemdashyour national bank is your trading counterparty and has conflicting interests. The retail forex transaction you are entering into is not conducted on an interbank market nor is it conducted on a futures exchange subject to regulation as a designated contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The foreign currency trades you transact are trades with your national bank as Start Printed Page 41387 the counterparty. When you sell, the national bank is the buyer. When you buy, the national bank is the seller. As a result, when you lose money trading, your national bank is making money on such trades, in addition to any fees, commissions, or spreads the national bank may charge. (2) An electronic trading platform for retail foreign currency transactions is not an exchange. It is an electronic connection for accessing your national bank. The terms of availability of such a platform are governed only by your contract with your national bank. Any trading platform that you may use to enter into off-exchange foreign currency transactions is only connected to your national bank. You are accessing that trading platform only to transact with your national bank. You are not trading with any other entities or customers of the national bank by accessing such platform. The availability and operation of any such platform, including the consequences of the unavailability of the trading platform for any reason, is governed only by the terms of your account agreement with the national bank. (3) You may be able to offset or liquidate any trading positions only through your banking entity because the transactions are not made on an exchange or regulated contract market, and your national bank may set its own prices. Your ability to close your transactions or offset positions is limited to what your national bank will offer to you, as there is no other market for these transactions. Your national bank may offer any prices it wishes, including prices derived from outside sources or not in its discretion. Your national bank may establish its prices by offering spreads from third-party prices, but it is under no obligation to do so or to continue to do so. Your national bank may offer different prices to different customers at any point in time on its own terms. The terms of your account agreement alone govern the obligations your national bank has to you to offer prices and offer offset or liquidating transactions in your account and make any payments to you. The prices offered by your national bank may or may not reflect prices available elsewhere at any exchange, interbank, or other market for foreign currency. (4) Paid solicitors may have undisclosed conflicts. The national bank may compensate introducing brokers for introducing your account in ways that are not disclosed to you. Such paid solicitors are not required to have, and may not have, any special expertise in trading and may have conflicts of interest based on the method by which they are compensated. You should thoroughly investigate the manner in which all such solicitors are compensated and be very cautious in granting any person or entity authority to trade on your behalf. You should always consider obtaining dated written confirmation of any information you are relying on from your national bank in making any trading or account decisions. (5) Retail forex transactions are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. (6) Retail forex transactions are not a deposit in, or guaranteed by, a national bank. (7) Retail forex transactions are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of all amounts invested. Finally, you should thoroughly investigate any statements by any national bank that minimize the importance of, or contradict, any of the terms of this risk disclosure. These statements may indicate sales fraud. This brief statement cannot, of course, disclose all the risks and other aspects of trading off-exchange foreign currency with a national bank. I hereby acknowledge that I have received and understood this risk disclosure statement. Signature of Customer (e)(1) Disclosure of profitable accounts ratio. Immediately following the language set forth in paragraph (d) of this section, the statement required by paragraph (a) of this section must include, for each of the most recent four calendar quarters during which the national bank maintained retail forex customer accounts: (i) The total number of retail forex customer accounts maintained by the national bank over which the national bank does not exercise investment discretion (ii) The percentage of such accounts that were profitable for retail forex customer accounts during the quarter and (iii) The percentage of such accounts that were not profitable for retail forex customer accounts during the quarter. (2) The national banks statement of profitable trades must include the following legend: ldquoPast performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. rdquo Each national bank must provide, upon request, to any retail forex customer or prospective retail forex customer the total number of retail forex accounts maintained by the national bank for which the national bank does not exercise investment discretion, the percentage of such accounts that were profitable, and the percentage of such accounts that were not profitable for each calendar quarter during the most recent five-year period during which the national bank maintained such accounts. (f) Disclosure of fees and other charges. Immediately following the language required by paragraph (e) of this section, the statement required by paragraph (a) of this section must include: (1) The amount of any fee, charge, spread, or commission that the national bank may impose on the retail forex customer in connection with a retail forex account or retail forex transaction (2) An explanation of how the national bank will determine the amount of such fees, charges, spreads, or commissions and (3) The circumstances under which the national bank may impose such fees, charges, spreads, or commissions. (g) Future disclosure requirements. If, with regard to a retail forex customer, the national bank changes any fee, charge, or commission required to be disclosed under paragraph (f) of this section, then the national bank must mail or deliver to the retail forex customer a notice of the changes at least 15 days prior to the effective date of the change. (h) Form of disclosure requirements. The disclosures required by this section must be clear and conspicuous and designed to call attention to the nature and significance of the information provided. (i) Other disclosure requirements unaffected. This section does not relieve a national bank from any other disclosure obligation it may have under applicable law. (a) General rule. A national bank engaging in retail forex transactions must keep full, complete, and systematic records, together with all pertinent data and memoranda, pertaining to its retail forex business, including the following 6 types of records: (1) Retail forex account records. For each retail forex account: (i) The name and address of the person for whom the account is carried or introduced and the principal occupation or business of the person (ii) The name of any other person guaranteeing the account or exercising trading control with respect to the account (iii) The establishment or termination of the account (iv) A means to identify the person that has solicited and is responsible for the account (v) The funds in the account, net of any commissions and fees (vi) The accounts net profits and losses on open trades (vii) The funds in the account plus or minus the net profits and losses on open trades, adjusted for the net option value in the case of open options positions (viii) Financial ledger records that show all charges against and credits to the account, including deposits, withdrawals, and transfers, and charges or credits resulting from losses or gains on closed transactions and (ix) A list of all retail forex transactions executed for the account, Start Printed Page 41388 with the details specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. (2) Retail forex transaction records. For each retail forex transaction: (i) The date and time the national bank received the order (ii) The price at which the national bank placed the order, or, in the case of an option, the premium that the retail forex customer paid (iii) The customer account identification information (iv) The currency pair (v) The size or quantity of the order (vi) Whether the order was a buy or sell order (vii) The type of order, if the order was not a market order (viii) The size and price at which the order is executed, or in the case of an option, the amount of the premium paid for each option purchased, or the amount credited for each option sold (ix) For options, whether the option is a put or call, expiration date, quantity, underlying contract for future delivery or underlying physical, strike price, and details of the purchase price of the option, including premium, mark-up, commission, and fees and (x) For futures, the delivery date and (xi) If the order was made on a trading platform: (A) T he price quoted on the trading platform when the order was placed, or, in the case of an option, the premium quoted (B) The date and time the order was transmitted to the trading platform and (C) The date and time the order was executed. (3) Price changes on a trading platform. If a trading platform is used, daily logs showing each price change on the platform, the time of the change to the nearest second, and the trading volume at that time and price. (4) Methods or algorithms. Any method or algorithm used to determine the bid or asked price for any retail forex transaction or the prices at which customer orders are executed, including, but not limited to, any markups, fees, commissions or other items which affect the profitability or risk of loss of a retail forex customers transaction. (5) Daily records which show for each business day complete details of: (i) All retail forex transactions that are futures transactions executed on that day, including the date, price, quantity, market, currency pair, delivery date, and the person for whom such transaction was made (ii) All retail forex transactions that are option transactions executed on that day, including the date, whether the transaction involved a put or call, the expiration date, quantity, currency pair, delivery date, strike price, details of the purchase price of the option, including premium, mark-up, commission and fees, and the person for whom the transaction was made and (iii) All other retail forex transactions executed on that day for such account, including the date, price, quantity, currency and the person for whom such transaction was made. (6) Other records. Written acknowledgments of receipt of the risk disclosure statement required by sectthinsp48.6(b), offset instructions pursuant to sectthinsp48.5(c), records required under paragraphs (b) through (f) of this section, trading cards, signature cards, street books, journals, ledgers, payment records, copies of statements of purchase, and all other records, data, and memoranda that have been prepared in the course of the national banks retail forex business. (b) Ratio of profitable accounts. (1) With respect to its active retail forex customer accounts over which it did not exercise investment discretion and that are not retail forex proprietary accounts open for any period of time during the quarter, a national bank must prepare and maintain on a quarterly basis (calendar quarter): (i) A calculation of the percentage of such accounts that were profitable (ii) A calculation of the percentage of such accounts that were not profitable and (iii) Data supporting the calculations described in paragraphs (b)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section. (2) In calculating whether a retail forex account was profitable or not profitable during the quarter, the national bank must compute the realized and unrealized gains or losses on all retail forex transactions carried in the retail forex account at any time during the quarter, subtract all fees, commissions, and any other charges posted to the retail forex account during the quarter, and add any interest income and other income or rebates credited to the retail forex account during the quarter. All deposits and withdrawals of funds made by the retail forex customer during the quarter must be excluded from the computation of whether the retail forex account was profitable or not profitable during the quarter. Computations that result in a zero or negative number must be considered a retail forex account that was not profitable. Computations that result in a positive number must be considered a retail forex account that was profitable. (3) A retail forex account must be considered ldquoactiverdquo for purposes of paragraph (b)(1) of this section if and only if for the relevant calendar quarter a retail forex transaction was executed in that account or the retail forex account contained an open position resulting from a retail forex transaction. (c) Records related to violations of law. A national bank engaging in retail forex transactions must make a record of all communications received by the national bank or its IAPs concerning facts giving rise to possible violations of law related to the national banks retail forex business. The record must contain: The name of the complainant, if provided the date of the communication the relevant agreement, contract, or transaction the substance of the communication the name of the person that received the communication and the final disposition of the matter. (d) Records for noncash margin. A national bank must maintain a record of all noncash margin collected pursuant to sectthinsp48.9. The record must show separately for each retail forex customer: (1) A description of the securities or property received (2) The name and address of such retail forex customer (3) The dates when the securities or property were received (4) The identity of the depositories or other places where such securities or property are segregated or held, if applicable (5) The dates in which the national bank placed or removed such securities or property into or from such depositories and (6) The dates of return of such securities or property to such retail forex customer, or other disposition thereof, together with the facts and circumstances of such other disposition. (e) Order Tickets. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (e)(2) of this section, immediately upon the receipt of a retail forex transaction order, a national bank must prepare an order ticket for the order (whether unfulfilled, executed, or canceled). The order ticket must include: (i) Account identification (account or customer name with which the retail forex transaction was effected) (ii) Order number (iii) Type of order (market order, limit order, or subject to special instructions) (iv) Date and time, to the nearest minute, that the retail forex transaction order was received (as evidenced by time-stamp or other timing device) (v) Time, to the nearest minute, that the retail forex transaction order was executed and (vi) Price at which the retail forex transaction was executed. (2) Post-execution allocation of bunched orders. Specific identifiers for Start Printed Page 41389 retail forex accounts included in bunched orders need not be recorded at time of order placement or upon report of execution as required under paragraph (e)(1) of this section if the following requirements are met: (i) The national bank placing and directing the allocation of an order eligible for post-execution allocation has been granted written investment discretion with regard to participating customer accounts and makes the following information available to retail forex customers upon request: (A) The general nature of the post-execution allocation methodology the national bank will use (B) Whether the national bank has any interest in accounts that may be included with customer accounts in bunched orders eligible for post-execution allocation and (C) Summary or composite data sufficient for that customer to compare the customers results with those of other comparable customers and, if applicable, any account in which the national bank has an interest. (ii) Post-execution allocations are made as soon as practicable after the entire transaction is executed (iii) Post-execution allocations are fair and equitable, with no account or group of accounts receiving consistently favorable or unfavorable treatment and (iv) The post-execution allocation methodology is sufficiently objective and specific to permit the OCC to verify the fairness of the allocations using that methodology. (f) Record of monthly statements and confirmations. A national bank must retain a copy of each monthly statement and confirmation required by sectthinsp48.10. (g) Form of record and manner of maintenance. The records required by this section must clearly and accurately reflect the information required and provide an adequate basis for the audit of the information. A national bank must create and maintain audio recordings of oral orders and oral offset instructions. Record maintenance may include the use of automated or electronic records provided that the records are easily retrievable and readily available for inspection. (h) Length of maintenance. A national bank must keep each record required by this section for at least five years from the date the record is created. A national bank offering or entering into retail forex transactions must be well capitalized as defined by 12 CFR part 6 . (a) Margin required. A national bank engaging, or offering to engage, in retail forex transactions must collect from each retail forex customer an amount of margin not less than: (1) Two percent of the notional value of the retail forex transaction for major currency pairs and 5 percent of the notional value of the retail forex transaction for all other currency pairs (2) For short options, 2 percent for major currency pairs and 5 percent for all other currency pairs of the notional value of the retail forex transaction, plus the premium received by the retail forex customer or (3) For long options, the full premium charged and received by the national bank. (b)(1) Form of margin. Margin collected under paragraph (a) of this section or pledged by a retail forex customer for retail forex transactions must be in the form of cash or the following financial instruments: (i) Obligations of the United States and obligations fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States (ii) General obligations of any State or of any political subdivision thereof (iii) General obligations issued or guaranteed by any enterprise, as defined in 12 U. S.C. 4502 (10) (iv) Certificates of deposit issued by an insured depository institution, as defined in section 3(c)(2) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U. S.C. 1813 (c)(2)) (v) Commercial paper (vi) Corporate notes or bonds (vii) General obligations of a sovereign nation (viii) Interests in money market mutual funds and (ix) Such other financial instruments as the OCC deems appropriate. (2) Haircuts. A national bank must establish written policies and procedures that include: (i) Haircuts for noncash margin collected under this section and (ii) Annual evaluation, and, if appropriate, modification, of the haircuts. (c) Separate margin account. Margin collected by the national bank from a retail forex customer for retail forex transactions or pledged by a retail forex customer for retail forex transactions must be placed into a separate account. (d) Margin calls liquidation of position. (1) For each retail forex customer, at least once per day, a national bank must: (i) Mark the value of the retail forex customers open retail forex positions to market (ii) Mark the value of the margin collected under this section from the retail forex customer to market and (iii) Determine whether, based on the marks in paragraphs (d)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section, the national bank has collected margin from the retail forex customer sufficient to satisfy the requirements of this section. (2) If, pursuant to paragraph (d)(1)(iii) of this section, the national bank determines that it has not collected margin from the retail forex customer sufficient to satisfy the requirements of this section then, within a reasonable period of time, the national bank must either: (i) Collect margin from the retail forex customer sufficient to satisfy the requirements of this section or (ii) Liquidate the retail forex customers retail forex transactions. (e) Set-off prohibited. A national bank may not: (1) Apply a retail forex customers retail forex obligations against any funds or other asset of the retail forex customer other than margin in the separate margin account described in paragraph (c) of this section (2) Apply a retail forex customers retail forex obligations to increase the amount owed by the retail forex customer to the national bank under any loan or (3) Collect the margin required under this section by use of any right of set-off. Required reporting to customers. (a) Monthly statements. Each national bank must promptly furnish to each retail forex customer, as of the close of the last business day of each month or as of any regular monthly date selected, except for accounts in which there are neither open positions at the end of the statement period nor any changes to the account balance since the prior statement period but, in any event, not less frequently than once every three months, a statement that clearly shows: (1) For each retail forex customer: (i) The open retail forex transactions with prices at which acquired (ii) The net unrealized profits or losses in all open retail forex transactions marked to the market (iii) Any money, securities, or other property in the separate margin account required by sectthinsp48.9(c) and (iv) A detailed accounting of all financial charges and credits to the retail forex customers retail forex accounts during the monthly reporting period, including: Money, securities, or property received from or disbursed to such customer re alized profits and losses and fees, charges, spreads, and commissions. Start Printed Page 41390 (2) For each retail forex customer engaging in retail forex transactions that are options: (i) All such options purchased, sold, exercised, or expired during the monthly reporting period, identified by underlying retail forex transaction or underlying currency, strike price, transaction date, and expiration date (ii) The open option positions carried for such customer and arising as of the end of the monthly reporting period, identified by underlying retail forex transaction or underlying currency, strike price, transaction date, and expiration date (iii) All such option positions marked to the market and the amount each position is in the money, if any (iv) Any money, securities, or other property in the separate margin account required by sectthinsp48.9(c) and (v) A detailed accounting of all financial charges and credits to the retail forex customers retail forex accounts during the monthly reporting period, including: Money, securities, or property received from or disbursed to such customer realized profits and losses premiums and mark-ups and fees, charges, and commissions. (b) Confirmation statement. Each national bank must, not later than the next business day after any retail forex transaction, send: (1) To each retail forex customer, a written confirmation of each retail forex transaction caused to be executed by it for the customer, including offsetting transactions executed during the same business day and the rollover of an open retail forex transaction to the next business day (2) To each retail forex customer engaging in forex option transactions, a written confirmation of each forex option transaction, containing at least the following information: (i) The retail forex customers account identification number (ii) A separate listing of the actual amount of the premium, as well as each markup thereon, if applicable, and all other commissions, costs, fees, and other charges incurred in connection with the forex option transaction (iii) The strike price (iv) The underlying retail forex transaction or underlying currency (v) The final exercise date of the forex option purchased or sold and (vi) The date that the forex option transaction was executed. (3) To each retail forex customer engaging in forex option transactions, upon the expiration or exercise of any option, a written confirmation statement thereof, which statement must include the date of such occurrence, a description of the option involved, and, in the case of exercise, the details of the retail forex or physical currency position that resulted therefrom including, if applicable, the final trading date of the retail forex transaction underlying the option. (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this section, a retail forex transaction that is caused to be executed for a pooled investment vehicle that engages in retail forex transactions need be confirmed only to the operator of such pooled investment vehicle. (d) Controlled accounts. With respect to any account controlled by any person other than the retail forex customer for whom such account is carried, each national bank must promptly furnish in writing to such other person the information required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. (e) Introduced accounts. Each statement provided pursuant to the provisions of this section must, if applicable, show that the account for which the national bank was introduced by an introducing broker and the name of the introducing broker. (a) No implication or representation of limiting losses. No national bank engaged in retail foreign exchange transactions or its IAPs may imply or represent that it will, with respect to any retail customer forex account, for or on behalf of any person: (1) Guarantee such person or account against loss (2) Limit the loss of such person or account or (3) Not call for or attempt to collect margin as established for retail forex customers. (b) No implication of representation of engaging in prohibited acts. No national bank or its IAPs may in any way imply or represent that it will engage in any of the acts or practices described in paragraph (a) of this section. (c) No Federal government endorsement. No national bank or its IAPs may represent or imply in any manner whatsoever that any retail forex transaction or retail forex product has been sponsored, recommended, or approved by the OCC, the Federal government, or any agency thereof. (d) Assuming or sharing of liability from bank error. This section does not prevent a national bank from assuming or sharing in the losses resulting from the national banks error or mishandling of a retail forex transaction. (e) Certain guaranties unaffected. This section does not affect any guarantee entered into prior to the effective date of this part, but this section does apply to any extension, modification, or renewal thereof entered into after such date. Authorization to trade. (a) Specific authorization required. No national bank may directly or indirectly effect a retail forex transaction for the account of any retail forex customer unless, before the retail forex transaction occurs, the retail forex customer specifically authorized the national bank to effect the retail forex transaction. (b) Requirements for specific authorization. A retail forex transaction is ldquospecifically authorizedrdquo for purposes of this section if the retail forex customer specifies: (1) The precise retail forex transaction to be effected (2) The exact amount of the foreign currency to be purchased or sold and (3) In the case of an option, the identity of the foreign currency or contract that underlies the option. Trading and operational standards. (a) Internal rules, procedures, and controls required. A national bank engaging in retail forex transactions must establish and implement internal policies, procedures, and controls designed, at a minimum, to: (1) Ensure, to the extent reasonable, that each retail forex transaction that is executable at or near the price that the national bank has quoted to the retail forex customer is entered for execution before any retail forex transaction for: (i) A proprietary account (ii) An account for which a related person may originate orders without the prior specific consent of the account owner, if the related person has gained knowledge of the retail forex customers order prior to the transmission of an order for a proprietary account (iii) An account in which a related person has an interest, if the related person has gained knowledge of the retail forex customers order prior to the transmission of an order for a proprietary account or (iv) An account in which a related person may originate orders without the prior specific consent of the ac count owner, if the related person has gained knowledge of the retail forex customers order prior to the transmission of an order for a proprietary account (2) Prevent national-bank related persons from placing orders, directly or indirectly, with another person in a manner designed to circumvent the provisions of paragraph (a)(1) of this section and (3) Fairly and objectively establish settlement prices for retail forex transactions. Start Printed Page 41391 (b) Disclosure of retail forex transactions. No national bank engaging in retail forex transactions may disclose that an order of another person is being held by the national bank, unless the disclosure is necessary to the effective execution of such order or the disclosure is made at the request of the OCC. (c) Handling of retail forex accounts of related persons of retail forex counterparties. No national bank engaging in retail forex transactions may knowingly handle the retail forex account of an employee of another retail forex counterpartys retail forex business unless the national bank: (1) Receives written authorization from a person designated by the other retail forex counterparty with responsibility for the surveillance over the account pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section (2) Prepares immediately upon receipt of an order for the account a written record of the order, including the account identification and order number, and records thereon to the nearest minute, by time-stamp or other timing device, the date and time the order was received and (3) Transmits on a regular basis to the other retail forex counterparty copies of all statements for the account and of all written records prepared upon the receipt of orders for the account pursuant to paragraph (c)(2) of this section. (d) Related person of national bank establishing account at another retail forex counterparty. No related person of a national bank working in the national banks retail forex business may have an account, directly or indirectly, with another retail forex counterparty unless the other retail forex counterparty: (1) Receives written authorization to open and maintain the account from a person designated by the national bank with responsibility for the surveillance over the account pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section and (2) Transmits on a regular basis to the national bank copies of all statements for the account and of all written records prepared by the other retail forex counterparty upon receipt of orders for the account pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section. (e) Prohibited trading practices. No national bank engaging in retail forex transactions may: (1) Enter into a retail forex transaction, to be executed pursuant to a market or limit order at a price that is not at or near the price at which other retail forex customers, during that same time period, have executed retail forex transactions with the national bank (2) Adjust or alter prices for a retail forex transaction after the transaction has been confirmed to the retail forex customer (3) Provide to a retail forex customer a new bid price for a retail forex transaction that is higher than its previous bid without providing a new asked price that is also higher than its previous asked price by a similar amount (4) Provide to a retail forex customer a new bid price for a retail forex transaction that is lower than its previous bid without providing a new asked price that is also lower than its previous asked price by a similar amount or (5) Establish a new position for a retail forex customer (except one that offsets a n existing position for that retail forex customer) where the national bank holds outstanding orders of other retail forex customers for the same currency pair at a comparable price. (a) Supervision by the national bank. A national bank engaging in retail forex transactions must diligently supervise the handling by its officers, employees, and agents (or persons occupying a similar status or performing a similar function) of all retail forex accounts carried, operated, or advised by at the national bank and all activities of its officers, employees, and agents (or persons occupying a similar status or performing a similar function) relating to its retail forex business. (b) Supervision by officers, employees, or agents. An officer, employee, or agent of a national bank must diligently supervise his or her subordinates handling of all retail forex accounts at the national bank and all the subordinates activities relating to the national banks retail forex business. Notice of transfers. (a) Prior notice generally required. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a national bank must provide a retail forex customer with 30 days prior notice of any assignment of any position or transfer of any account of the retail forex customer. The notice must include a statement that the retail forex customer is not required to accept the proposed assignment or transfer and may direct the national bank to liquidate the positions of the retail forex customer or transfer the account to a retail forex counterparty of the retail forex customers selection. (b) Exceptions. The requirements of paragraph (a) of this section do not apply to transfers: (1) Requested by the retail forex customer (2) Made by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver or conservator under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or (3) Otherwise authorized by applicable law. (c) Obligations of transferee national bank. A national bank to which retail forex accounts or positions are assigned or transferred under paragraph (a) of this section must provide to the affected retail forex customers the risk disclosure statements and forms of acknowledgment required by this part and receive the required signed acknowledgments within 60 days of such assignments or transfers. This requirement does not apply if the national bank has clear written evidence that the retail forex customer has received and acknowledged receipt of the required disclosure statements. Customer dispute resolution. (a) Voluntary submission of claims to dispute or settlement procedures. No national bank may enter into any agreement or understanding with a retail forex customer in which the customer agrees, prior to the time a claim or grievance arises, to submit such claim or grievance to any settlement procedure unless the following conditions are satisfied: (1) Signing the agreement is not a condition for the customer to use the services offered by the national bank. (2) If the agreement is contained as a clause or clauses of a broader agreement, the customer separately endorses the clause or clauses. (3) The agreement advises the retail forex customer that, at such time as the customer notifies the national bank that the customer intends to submit a claim to arbitration, or at such time the national bank notifies the customer of its intent to submit a claim to arbitration, the customer will have the opportunity to choose a person qualified in dispute resolution to conduct the proceeding. (4) The agreement must acknowledge that the national bank will pay any incremental fees that may be assessed in connection with the dispute resolution, unless it is determined in the proceeding that the retail forex customer has acted in bad faith in initiating the proceeding. (5) The agreement must include the following language printed in large boldface type: Two forums exist for the resolution of disputes related to retail forex transactions: Civil court litigation and arbitration conducted by a private Start Printed Page 41392 organization. The opportunity to settle disputes by arbitration may in some cases provide benefits to customers, including the ability to obtain an expeditious and final resolution of disputes without incurring substantial cost. Each customer must individually examine the relative merits of arbitration and consent to this arbitration agreement must be voluntary. By signing this agreement, you: (1) May be waiving your right to sue in a court of law and (2) are agreeing to be bound by arbitration of any claims or counterclaims that you or insert name of national bank may submit to arbitration under this agreement. In the event a dispute arises, you will be notified if insert name of national bank intends to submit the dispute to arbitration. You need not sign this agreement to open or maintain a retail forex account with insert name of national bank. (b) Election of forum. (1) Within 10 business days after receipt of notice from the retail forex customer that the customer intends to submit a claim to arbitration, the national bank must provide the customer with a list of persons qualified in dispute resolution. (2) The customer must, within 45 days after receipt of such list, notify the national bank of the person selected. The customers failure to provide such notice must give the national bank the right to select a person from the list. (c) Enforceability. A dispute settlement procedure may require parties using the procedure to agree, under applicable state law, submission agreement, or otherwise, to be bound by an award rendered in the procedure if the agreement to submit the claim or grievance to the procedure complies with paragraph (a) of this section or the agreement to submit the claim or grievance to the procedure was made after the claim or grievance arose. Any award so rendered by the procedure will be enforceable in accordance with applicable law. (d) Time limits for submission of claims. The dispute settlement procedure used by the parties may not include any unreasonably short limitation period foreclosing submission of a customers claims or grievances or counterclaims. (e) Counterclaims. A procedure for the settlement of a retail forex customers claims or grievances against a national bank or employee thereof may permit the submission of a counterclaim in the procedure by a person against whom a claim or grievance is brought if the counterclaim: (1) Arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject of the retail forex customers claim or grievance and (2) Does not require for adjudication the presence of essential witnesses, parties, or third persons over which the settlement process lacks jurisdiction. Reservation of authority. The OCC may modify the disclosure, recordkeeping, capital and margin, reporting, business conduct, documentation, or other standards or requirements under this part for a specific retail forex transaction or a class of retail forex transactions if the OCC determines that the modification is consistent with safety and soundness and the protection of retail forex customers. End Part Start Signature Dated: July 7, 2011. Acting Comptroller of the Currency. End Signature End Supplemental Information Footnotes 2. thinspDodd-Frank Act sectthinsp742(c)(2) (to be codified at 7 U. S.C. 2 (c)(2)(E)). In this preamble, citations to the retail forex statutory provisions are to the sections in which the provisions will be codified in the CEA. 3. thinspThe CEA defines ldquofinancial institutionrdquo as including ldquoa depository institution (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U. S.C. 1813 )).rdquo 7 U. S.C. 1 a(21)(E). National banks are depository institutions. See 12 U. S.C. 1813 (a)(1) and (c)(1). 4. thinspFor purposes of the retail forex rules, ldquoFederal regulatory agencyrdquo includes ldquoan appropriate Federal banking agency. rdquo 7 U. S.C. 2 (c)(2)(E)(i)(III). The OCC is the appropriate Federal banking agency for national banks and Federal branches and agencies of foreign banks. 12 U. S.C. 1813 (q)(1) Dodd-Frank Act sectthinsp721(a)(2) (amending 7 U. S.C. 1 a to define ldquoappropriate Federal banking agencyrdquo by reference to 12 U. S.C. 1813 ). 5. thinspA retail customer is a person that is not an ldquoeligible contract participantrdquo under the CEA. 10. thinsp See Dodd-Frank Act sectthinsp754. 11. thinspDodd-Frank Act sectthinsp312. 12. thinsp Regulation of Off-Exchange Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions and Intermediaries, 75 FR 55409 (Sept. 10, 2010) (Final CFTC Retail Forex Rule). The CFTC proposed these rules prior to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act. Regulation of Off-Exchange Retail Foreign Exchange Transactions and Intermediaries, 75 FR 3281 (Jan. 20, 2010) (Proposed CFTC Retail Forex Rule). 13. thinspRetail Foreign Exchange Transactions, 76 FR 22633 (Apr. 22, 2011) (Proposed OCC Retail Forex Rule). 14. thinspRetail Foreign Exchange Transactions, 76 FR 28358 (May 17, 2011) (Proposed FDIC Retail Forex Rule). 15. thinsp See OCC Bulletin 94-13 (Feb. 24, 1994) see also OCC Bulletin 1995-52 (Sept. 22, 1995). 16. thinspThere are, of course, differences in the regulations that generally govern national banks versus those that govern CFTC registrants, such as capital rules. The NDIP Policy Statement, because it governs bank activities more generally, is similar to capital rules. 17. thinspThe definition of ldquoeligible contract participantrdquo is found in the CEA and is discussed below. 22. thinsp See generally CFTC v. Intl Fin. Servs. (New York), Inc., 323 F. Supp. 2d 482, 495 (S. D.N. Y. 2004) (distinguishing between foreign exchange futures contracts and spot contracts in foreign exchange, and noting that foreign currency trades settled within two days are ordinarily spot transactions rather than futures contracts) see also Bank Brussels Lambert v. Intermetals Corp., 779 F. Supp. 741, 748 (S. D.N. Y. 1991). 23. thinsp See 7 U. S.C. 2 (c)(2)(C)(i)(II)(bb)(BB) CFTC v. Intl Fin. Servs. (New York), Inc., 323 F. Supp. 2d 482, 495 (S. D.N. Y. 2004) (distinguishing between forward contracts in foreign exchange and foreign exchange futures contracts) see also William L. Stein, The Exchange-Trading Requirement of the Commodity Exchange Act, 41 Vand. L. Rev. 473, 491 (1988). In contrast to forward contracts, futures contracts generally include several or all of the following characteristics: (i) Standardized nonnegotiable terms (other than price and quantity) (ii) parties are required to deposit initial margin to secure their obligations under the contract (iii) parties are obligated and entitled to pay or receive variation margin in the amount of gain or loss on the position periodically over the period the contract is outstanding (iv) purchasers and sellers are permitted to close out their positions by selling or purchasing offsetting contracts and (v) settlement may be provided for by either (a) cash payment through a clearing entity that acts as the counterparty to both sides of the contract without delivery of the underlying commodity or (b) physical delivery of the underlying commodity. See Edward F. Greene et al. U. S. Regulation of International Securities and Derivatives Markets sectthinsp14.082 (8th ed. 2006). 24. thinsp CFTC v. Zelener, 373 F.3d 861 (7th Cir. 2004) see also CFTC v. Erskine, 512 F.3d 309 (6th Cir. 2008). 25. thinsp7 U. S.C. 2 (c)(2)(E)(iii) (requiring that retail forex rules treat all functionally or economically similar transactions similarly) see 17 CFR 5.1 (m) (defining ldquoretail forex transactionrdquo for CFTC-registered retail forex dealers). 26. thinspFor example, in Zelener, the retail forex dealer retained the right, at the date of delivery of the currency to deliver the currency, roll the transaction over, or offset all or a portion of the transaction with another open position held by the customer. See CFTC v. Zelener, 373 F.3d 861, 868 (7th Cir. 2004). 27. thinsp See, e. g. CFTC v. Erskine, 512 F.3d 309, 326 (6th Cir. 2008) CFTC v. Zelener, 373 F.3d 861, 869 (7th Cir. 2004). 30. thinsp7 U. S.C. 27 a(a)(1). An identified banking product offered by a national bank could become subject to the CEA if the OCC determines, in consultation with the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, that the product would meet the definition of a ldquoswaprdquo under the CEA or a ldquosecurity-based swaprdquo under Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and has become known to the trade as a swap or security-based swap, or otherwise has been structured as an identified banking product for the purpose of evading the provisions of the CEA, the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. 7 U. S.C. 27 a(b). 31. thinsp7 U. S.C. 27 (b) (citing Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act sectthinsp206(a)(1) to (5)). 32. thinspThe term ldquoeligible contract participantrdquo is defined at 7 U. S.C. 1 a(18), and for purposes most relevant to this rule generally includes: (a) A corporation, partnership, proprietorship, organization, trust, or other entitymdash (1) That has total assets exceeding 10,000,000 (2) The obligations of which under an agreement, contract, or transaction are guaranteed or otherwise supported by a letter of credit or keepwell, support, or other agreement by certain other eligible contract participants or (i) Has a net worth exceeding 1,000,000 and (ii) Enters into an agreement, contract, or transaction in connection with the conduct of the entitys business or to manage the risk associated with an asset or liability owned or incurred or reasonably likely to be owned or incurred by the entity in the conduct of the entitys business (b) Subject to certain exclusions, (1) A governmental entity (including the United States, a State, or a foreign government) or political subdivision of a governmental entity (2) A multinational or supranational governmental entity a nd (3) An instrumentality, agency, or department of an entity described in (b)(1) or (2) and (c) An individual who has amounts invested on a discretionary basis, the aggregate of which is in excess ofmdash (2) 5,000,000 and who enters into the agreement, contract, or transaction in order to manage the risk associated with an asset owned or liability incurred, or reasonably likely to be owned or incurred, by the individual. 34. thinspProposed CFTC Retail Forex Rule, 75 FR at 3287 n.54. 44. thinsp See National Futures Association, Forex Transactions: A Regulatory Guide 17 (Feb. 2011) Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Survey of North American Foreign Exchange Volume tbl. 3e (Jan. 2011) Bank for International Settlements, Report on Global Foreign Exchange Market Activity in 2010 at 15 tbl. B.6 (Dec. 2010). 45. thinspThe Final CFTC Retail Forex Rule similarly does not define ldquomajor currency. rdquo 46. thinspThe final rule clarifies that the prohibition on setting off retail forex ldquolossesrdquo in the proposed rule was meant to include costs related to retail forex transactions, such as fees, spreads, charges, and commissions. 48. thinspSmall Business Administration regulations define ldquosmall entitiesrdquo to include banks with a four-quarter average of total assets of 175 million or less. 13 CFR 121.201 . 50. thinspIn particular, the OCC notes that forex transactions between national banks and governmental entities are not retail forex transactions subject to this rule, because governmental entities are eligible contract participants. See 7 U. S.C. 1 a(18)(A)(vii). FR Doc. 2011-17514 Filed 7-13-11 8:45 am BILLING CODE 4810-33-POff-Exchange Forex Regulation On September 10, 2010, the CFTC approved its final rules regarding off-exchange retail foreign exchange transactions. Embora a regulamentação precede a Lei Dodd-Frank. uma vez que a lei foi assinada em julho de 2010, as regras de forex de comissões, juntamente com as regras de forex de outras autoridades reguladoras, tornaram-se parte da Dodd-Frank. Sob Dodd-Frank, a CFTC terá jurisdição sobre operações de câmbio de varejo, exceto no caso de entidades que estejam sob a autoridade de uma das seguintes agências reguladoras (Reguladores Prudenciais): A Lei exige que tais regras incluam requisitos apropriados com respeito. para divulgação, manutenção de registros, capital e margem, relatórios, conduta nos negócios, documentação e quaisquer outros padrões ou exigências que as agências reguladoras federais determinarem como sendo necessárias. Regra final da CFTC: Off-Exchange Retail Forex As regras finais da Comissão espelharam de perto as regras propostas a partir de janeiro de 2010: A regra da CFTC aborda principalmente a quantidade de alavancagem que os negociantes de varejo podem empregar na negociação de moedas fora da bolsa. A regra permite um máximo de alavancagem de 50 a 1, ou uma exigência de margem de 2 por cento nos principais pares de moedas, e uma alavancagem máxima de 20 a 1 em todas as outras transações forex, ou um requisito de 5 por cento. Este foi o principal desvio da regra proposta, que limitou a alavancagem para uma proporção de 10 para 1. O requisito proposto de que uma pessoa que se registra como Corretora de Apresentação (IB) para apresentar contas forex de varejo deve ser garantida por um Revendedor de Câmbio de Varejo (RFED) registrado (e que o IB poderia ser garantido por apenas um FCM ou RFED) foi substituído pelo mesmo requisito que atualmente se aplica aos IBs que introduzem contas de futuros e de juros de commodities. Um forex IB pode optar por cumprir os requisitos mínimos de capital líquido aplicáveis ​​aos IBs de opções de futuros e mercadorias, ou celebrar um contrato de garantia com um FCM ou um RFED. Os FCMs, ou RFEDs, também devem manter um capital líquido de 20 milhões, mais 5% do valor, se houver, pelo qual o passivo de clientes forex no varejo excede 10 milhões. A NFA está autorizada a definir níveis específicos de depósito de segurança dentro desses parâmetros, e deve revisar periodicamente e ajustar conforme necessário os níveis de depósito de segurança específicos e a designação de quais moedas são as principais moedas, à luz de fatores como mudanças na volatilidade. As regras finais mantêm o requisito de RFEDs e FCMs que se envolvem em transações forex de varejo para divulgar trimestralmente o percentual de contas não discricionárias que realizaram um lucro e para manter e disponibilizar registros desse cálculo. 1 As regras entraram em vigor em 18 de outubro de 2010. No início de 2011, os reguladores prudenciais apresentaram propostas de regras e pedidos de comentários sobre a regulamentação cambial. Embora essas propostas geralmente espelhem a regra final da CFTC, diferenças menores, como a resolução de disputas, variam entre os reguladores. Os documentos relacionados a estas propostas de regras podem ser encontrados abaixo, sob o Regulamento Prudential Regulators Forex. Definições de transação de varejo Um cliente forex varejista geralmente é definido pela CFTC como: Um indivíduo com menos de 10 milhões em ativos totais ou menos de 5 milhões em ativos totais se entrar na transação para gerenciar riscos e não é registrado como um futuro ou profissão de valores mobiliários. Empresas, exceto instituições financeiras e empresas de investimento, com menos de 10 milhões em ativos totais, ou um patrimônio líquido inferior a 1 milhão se celebrarem transações relacionadas à condução de seus negócios e grupos de produtos básicos com menos de 5 milhões no total ativos. Contrapartes De acordo com a Lei Dodd-Frank. a lista de empresas elegíveis que podem servir como contrapartes para transacções de divisas a retalho fora de bolsa, apenas as instituições financeiras dos EUA podem actuar como contrapartes. As companhias de seguros não podem mais participar como contrapartes. Jurisdição regulatória A CFTC afirmou que a regulação do espaço forex de varejo depende do tipo de empresa que atuará como uma contraparte. Se uma corretora ou revendedora registrada na SEC estiver negociando varejo forex, será regulada por essa agência. As instituições financeiras serão reguladas por reguladores bancários (consulte Propostas de Reguladores Prudenciais de Forex abaixo). O CFTC tem jurisdição sobre FCMs. RFEDs, ou entidades não regulamentadas de outra forma. Nenhuma das provisões tem qualquer impacto nos contratos forex negociados em bolsa. Orientação CFTC para Consultores de Negociação de Mercadoria de Mercadorias e Operadores de Pool de Commodities. 27 de fevereiro de 2012 Em 27 de fevereiro de 2012, a Divisão CFTC de Oficina de Troca e Supervisão Intermediária emitiu uma carta de orientação à National Futures Association (NFA) sobre as regras do Forex Retail da CFTC e divulgação de desempenho por CPOs e CTAs. Segundo a carta: é a visão das Divisões. que um Forex CTA é necessário para divulgar o desempenho passado para o período que se inicia em 18 de outubro de 2010 ou, se posteriormente, a data em que o Forex CTA começou a exercer autoridade de negociação discricionária sobre contas envolvidas em transações de varejo forex. A partir de 18 de outubro de 2015, o período de tempo descrito no Regulamento 4.35 (a) (5) (cinco anos civis mais recentes e o ano até a data ou a duração do programa de negociação, se menor) se aplicaria. Se um CTA Forex optar por incluir em suas informações de desempenho passado do Documento de Divulgação a qualquer momento anterior a 18 de outubro de 2010, acreditamos que, para evitar a extração, essas informações devem abranger todo o período estabelecido no Regulamento 4.35 (a ) (5) e deve incluir todas as contas sobre as quais o CTA Forex exerceu autoridade de negociação discricionária durante esse período. O texto completo da carta pode ser encontrado abaixo. Reguladores Prudenciais Forex Regras Regra final, Escritório da Controladoria da Moeda (OCC), 14 de julho de 2011 Em 14 de julho de 2011, o Federal Register publicou uma regra final do OCC referente à autorização de bancos nacionais, agências federais e agências de bancos estrangeiros e suas subsidiárias operacionais (coletivamente, bancos nacionais) para realizar certas transações fora da bolsa em moeda estrangeira com clientes de varejo. De acordo com a regra final, tal transação de varejo é definida como uma transação em moeda estrangeira entre um banco nacional e um cliente de varejo que é: um futuro ou opção em tal futuro uma opção não negociada ou executada em uma bolsa de valores nacional registrada ou uma certa transação alavancada ou marginalizada. A regra entrou em vigor em 15 de julho de 2011. Além disso, conforme mandado na Lei Dodd-Frank. em 21 de julho de 2011, o OCC substituiu o Office of Thrift Supervision como o órgão bancário federal apropriado para as associações federais de poupança. Um pedido separado referente à expansão das regras para as associações federais de poupança foi publicado no Registro Federal em 12 de setembro de 2011. 2 Os requisitos são semelhantes aos da Regra final que regula as transações de câmbio de varejo da CFTC, em 10 de setembro de 2010. o prazo para comentários públicos foi em 23 de maio de 2011. A regulamentação final, como apareceu no Registro Federal em 14 de julho de 2011, pode ser encontrada abaixo. Regra final, FDIC, 8 de julho de 2011 Em 10 de maio de 2011, a Corporação Federal de Seguro de Depósito (FDIC) emitiu uma proposta de regra referente a operações de varejo de varejo envolvidas por instituições depositárias seguradas (IDIs) sob autoridade do FDIC. Sob a regra proposta, os clientes de varejo com relações com um banco, e não são compensados ​​por meio de uma troca, serão obrigados a lançar uma margem de 2% nas principais moedas, como o dólar, iene ou euro dos EUA. O valor da margem aumentaria para 5% do valor nocional da transação em outras moedas, de acordo com uma reportagem da Reuters sobre a regra da FDIC. Esta regra não afeta grandes empresas, apenas clientes de varejo que são definidos como indivíduos com menos de 10 milhões de ativos. 3 A regra final aplica-se a futuros de moeda estrangeira, opções sobre futuros e opções, uma vez que estes termos são utilizados na Lei das Bolsas de Mercadorias. A regra também se aplicaria a transações que são funcionalmente ou economicamente semelhantes a futuros e opções, tais como negociações spot. Destaques da regra: IDIs supervisionados pelo FDIC que entram em negociações cobertas pela regra estariam sujeitos a exigências em seis áreas: divulgação, manutenção de registros, capital e margem, relatórios, conduta nos negócios e documentação. Os requisitos se concentram em segurança e solidez e proteção ao consumidor. Contratos à vista e a termo tradicionais não seriam cobertos por essa regra. A regra só se aplica a transações cobertas com um cliente de varejo. Para fins da regra, um cliente de varejo pode incluir certas pequenas empresas. Também pode incluir um indivíduo com 10 milhões ou menos investido em uma base discricionária e que não esteja usando as negociações para reduzir os riscos associados a outros investimentos. Os IDIs supervisionados pelo FDIC envolvidos ou que desejam participar de transações cobertas pela regra seriam obrigados a apresentar um plano de negócios detalhado, demonstrar a aprovação do conselho da atividade e obter aprovação por escrito do FDIC para fornecer tais produtos, entre outros requisitos. Os IDIs supervisionados pelo FDIC envolvidos nesta ou em qualquer venda ou marketing de quaisquer produtos de investimento devem continuar a satisfazer as expectativas estabelecidas na Declaração Interagencial de 1994 sobre as Vendas a Retalho de Produtos de Investimento Nondeposit, na medida em que tais expectativas não entrem em conflito com os requisitos do regra. 4 Proposta de Regra do Federal Reserve, 28 de julho de 2011 O Federal Reserve emitiu sua proposta de regra e solicitou comentários do público em 28 de julho de 2011. O prazo para comentários é 11 de outubro de 2011. Para enviar um comentário clique aqui. A proposta é modelada, em geral, após a regra final da CFTC sobre Forex fora da bolsa (ver acima), com algumas diferenças fundamentais: A proposta não inclui requisitos de registro, porque as instituições bancárias já estão sujeitas à supervisão abrangente da Diretoria. Assim, em vez de um requisito de registro, as instituições bancárias devem fornecer 60 dias de aviso ao Conselho para conduzir um negócio forex de varejo. Como as instituições bancárias já estão sujeitas a vários requisitos de capital e outros requisitos de supervisão, os Conselhos propuseram a regra de forex de varejo geralmente requer que as instituições bancárias que desejam se envolver em transações forex de varejo sejam bem capitalizadas. A regra proposta exigiria que a declaração de divulgação de risco destacasse que uma transação forex de varejo não é segurada pelo FDIC. Os regulamentos da CFTC não tratam do seguro FDIC porque nenhum intermediário financeiro sob a jurisdição da CFTCs é uma instituição depositária segurada. O Conselho não está propondo a exigência de uma conta separada de margem cambial, mas está solicitando comentários sobre se essas proibições seriam apropriadas. OCC e FDIC forex regras, exigirá essa separação. Semelhante à regra FDIC acima, a proposta da Feds impediria o uso de acordos obrigatórios de arbitragem pré-disputa. Em contraste, as regras do FDIC e do OCC permitem o uso de arbitragem pré-disputa. Documentos Relacionados: CFTC, FDIC, OCC, Federal Reserve Rules conforme Inserido no Registro Federal CFTC Interpretive Guidance to Forex CTAs