The North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) has requested guidance regarding its Amended Order of Registration as a Derivatives Clearing Organization (the Nadex DCO Order) and Nadex’s Amended Order as a Designated Contract Market (the Nadex DCM Order, and, together with the Nadex DCO Order, the Nadex Orders), both dated March 30, 2010. Among other things, the Nadex Orders allow intermediation of contracts traded on Nadex’s designated contract market provided that such contracts are fully collateralized.

The Division confirmed that under the specific facts represented to it, a firm that was required to be registered as an IB, and was so registered, would not also be required to register as a CTA in connection with providing certain services to its retail foreign exchange customers.

The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight issued an interpretation that a limited liability company and a trust operated by the limited liability company are not commodity pools where all participants are close family members.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule 22e-3 (Rule 22e-3), adopted by the SEC February 23, 2010 and effective May 5, 2010, allows a money market mutual fund (MMMF or fund) to suspend redemptions and postpone payment of redemption proceeds to facilitate an orderly liquidation of the fund. The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight (the Division) received a letter from the Joint Audit Committee requesting an interpretation of the impact, if any, of Rule 22e-3 on Reg. 1.25. In its response, the Division provided an overview of the Reg.

DCIO responded to a request for guidance from the Joint Audit Committee (JAC) as to investments of customer funds by futures commission merchants (FCMs) in corporate debt securities guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) under its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP).

The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight issued an interpretation that a family partnership is not a commodity pool where all participants are close family members. This interpretation would not be affected by family members forming a CTA which will manage both the family partnership’s commodity interest trading and the trading of non-related persons.

The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight issued an interpretation that a charitable foundation would not be a commodity pool, and that its directors would not be commodity pool operators, if the foundation traded commodity interests. This interpretation was based on, among others, representations that: (1) no current or future donor to the foundation will be entitled to receive any of the assets, net earnings, income or profits of the foundation; and (2) no (other) charitable organization has any entitlement, on an annual or other basis, to a contribution from the foundation.

The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight confirmed that a person registered as an investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission: (1) would come within the CTA definition in Section 1a(6) of the Act if it offered as part of its comprehensive portfolio management a “managed futures account” component; and (2) would be required to register as a CTA with the Commission unless an exemption from registration was available to it.

The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight provided an Interpretation that a software vendor would not be an introducing broker (“IB”) as defined in Commodity Exchange Act Section 1a(23) and Commission Regulation 1.3(mm) as a result of providing its customers a software application with the ability to route orders for the purchase or sale of commodity futures and options contracts to a futures commission merchant (“FCM”) or IB of their choice.

The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight issued an interpretation that when an IB does no more than introduce a non-clearing FCM to a clearing FCM, and the non-clearing FCM then establishes an omnibus account with the clearing FCM, the requirement of Regulation 1.57(a)(1) that an IB open and carry each customer’s account with a carrying FCM on a fully-disclosed basis is not triggered, where: (1) the IB does not transmit trading orders fore the omnibus account to the clearing FCM; and (2) the IB does not accept funds from the customers whose accounts are maintained in the omnibus