CPOs Reminded to Always File Timely Reports

The following release details the CFTC sanctions against four commodity pool operators (CPOs) for failure to make timely filings with the NFA.  The CPOs failed to make filings of the respective commodity pool annual report.  This report must be provided to all pool participants (investors) and must also be filed with the NFA.  In certain circumstances the NFA will provide extensions to CPOs.  We also note that the filing requirement applies to those CPOs who run hedge fund of funds which are also commodity pools. 

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding your duties as a CPO or CTA.  Other related hedge fund law articles include:

• How to register as a CPO or CTA
• CPO Exemptions
• CTA Registration Requirement

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The release is reprinted below and can be found here.

Release: 5596-09
For Release: January 9, 2009

CFTC Sanctions Four Commodity Pool Operators for Failing to File Timely Reports with the National Futures Association

Spring Mountain Capital G.P., LLC, Spring Mountain Capital, LP, Fortis Investment Management USA, Inc., and UBS Fund Advisor, LLC Ordered to Pay a Total of $275,000 in Civil Monetary Penalties

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that it simultaneously filed and settled charges against four registered commodity pool operators (CPOs), charging them with failing to distribute to investors and file with the National Futures Association (NFA) one or more of their respective commodity pools’ annual reports in a timely manner. Spring Mountain Capital G.P., LLC (Spring Mountain G.P.) of New York, NY; Spring Mountain Capital, LP, (Spring Mountain Capital) of New York, NY; Fortis Investment Management USA, Inc. (Fortis) of Boston, MA, and UBS Fund Advisor, LLC (UBS) of New York, NY, were charged in the CFTC action.

The CFTC orders require the CPOs to pay civil monetary penalties in the following amounts: Spring Mountain Capital G.P., $75,000; Spring Mountain Capital, LP, $75,000; Fortis, $75,000; and UBS, $50,000.
Under CFTC regulations, CPOs are required to file an annual report with the NFA and distribute it to each pool participant within a prescribed period after the close of the pool’s fiscal year. An annual report is designed to “provide [pool] participants with the information necessary to assess the overall trading performance and financial condition of the pool.” (See Commodity Pool Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors, Final Rules, 44 Fed. Reg. 1918 [CFTC Jan. 8, 1979], regarding the adoption of Rule 4.22.) According to the CFTC orders, the CFTC’s goal of providing pool participants with complete and necessary data is hampered without timely reporting.

The CFTC orders find that each of the four CPOs operated one or more commodity pools, including pools that operated as funds-of-funds. While some of the CPOs had obtained extensions of the prescribed deadlines for various pools and reporting years, each nevertheless failed to timely comply with its obligations, in violation of CFTC regulations.

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff are responsible for this case: Vince McGonagle, Joan Manley, Lenel Hickson, Paul Hayek, Gretchen Lowe, Peter Haas, Manal Sultan, Michael Solinsky, Nathan Ploener, James Garcia, Melanie Devoe, Eliud Ramirez, Ken Koh, and Richard B. Wagner.
Last Updated: January 9, 2009