Series 30 cheat sheet

NFA Compliance Rule 2-9 requires each member to diligently supervise employees and agents and to maintain written supervisory procedures.

Under NFA Compliance Rule 2-30, a branch office is a non-main-office location where one or more associated persons regularly conduct futures business with customers.

Each branch office must have a designated branch office manager registered with NFA; the member must notify NFA of branch openings and closings.

The BOM should approve new accounts, review promotional material before use, monitor trading activity, and document supervisory reviews.

Customer complaints must be logged, investigated, and resolved; complaint records are subject to NFA examination.

Supervisory reviews should be periodic and documented; red flags include excessive trading, unauthorized trading, and unusual fund transfers.

A supervisor must confirm APs are properly registered and sponsored before permitting them to solicit or accept customer orders.

If the BOM is absent, a qualified designee must be responsible for supervision; supervision cannot be left to unregistered staff.

NFA Compliance Rule 2-1: members must observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.

CFTC Regulation 1.55 requires an FCM or IB to provide a futures risk disclosure statement and obtain signed acknowledgment before opening an account.

CFTC Regulation 33.7 requires delivery of the options disclosure document and option risk disclosure statement before accepting an option order.

NFA Compliance Rule 2-43 restricts price adjustments and trade cancellations; customer consent or written bona fide error procedures are required.

NFA Bylaw 1101 prohibits customer business with a person required to be registered who is not an NFA member.

CFTC Regulation 1.33 requires confirmations for each transaction and monthly statements for accounts with open positions, quarterly for inactive accounts.

NFA Compliance Rule 2-29 governs communications with the public: fair and balanced, no misleading statements, hypothetical results labeled, supervisor approval.

Registration is required for FCMs, IBs, CPOs, CTAs, APs, and branch office managers; the firm must verify counterparty registration.

Promotional material must be approved by a designated supervisor before use and retained for three years under NFA Rule 2-29.

Communications must be fair and balanced and must disclose the risk of loss; hypothetical results require a clear disclaimer.

Past performance may be cited only with a statement that past results are not necessarily indicative of future results.

Prohibited: guaranteeing profits, misrepresenting risk, omitting material facts, and using high-pressure tactics.

Testimonials must not be misleading and must not imply that profits are typical.

Telephone solicitations must honor the National Do Not Call Registry and the firm's internal do-not-call list.

Sales literature cannot project specific investment results or use "safe" or "guaranteed" language.

Customer communications about options must be preceded by delivery of the ODD and risk disclosure where required.

CFTC Regulation 1.17: FCM adjusted net capital must be at least $1,000,000 or 8% of customer maintenance margin, whichever is greater.

IB minimum adjusted net capital is $45,000 for a non-guaranteed IB not holding customer funds.

CFTC Regulation 1.20 requires customer funds to be segregated from firm funds and held in qualifying accounts.

CFTC Regulation 1.25 limits permitted investments of customer funds to instruments such as U.S. government securities and qualifying money market funds.

FCMs must compute segregation requirements daily and maintain sufficient funds to cover customer obligations.

An FCM must notify NFA and the CFTC if capital falls below the minimum or below 150% of the minimum (early warning).

A firm may not use customer funds to margin proprietary positions or to meet firm obligations.

Financial reports: FCMs file annual audited statements within 60 days of fiscal year end and periodic Form 1-FR reports.

CFTC Regulation 1.31: records are retained five years, with the first two years readily accessible.

Order tickets must show account, time, price, quantity, order type, and identity of the person taking the order.

Promotional material and supervisory approvals are retained three years under NFA Rule 2-29.

CFTC Regulation 1.33: monthly statements for accounts with open positions; quarterly for accounts without open positions.

Confirmations must be sent for each transaction and copies retained for five years.

Records may be kept electronically if reproducible and immediately retrievable for the first two years.

FCMs file annual audited financial reports within 60 days of fiscal year end; IBs file annual reports as required by NFA.

Customer complaints and their resolutions should be retained as part of required books and records.

The Bank Secrecy Act requires a written AML program with four pillars: compliance officer, policies and procedures, training, and independent testing.

A SAR must be filed within 30 days of detecting suspicious activity involving at least $5,000; related records are retained five years.

A CTR must be filed for currency transactions over $10,000 in one business day, generally within 15 days.

OFAC screening requires checking customers against the SDN list and blocking prohibited transactions.

A customer identification program must verify identity using name, address, date of birth, and identification number, with records retained.

NFA Compliance Rule 2-1 requires high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade.

Firms must conduct ongoing AML training and independent testing of their AML program.

Suspicious activity includes unusual wire transfers, structuring, and transactions inconsistent with the customer profile.

APs must be registered with NFA and sponsored by a member before soliciting or accepting customer orders.

Branch office managers must be registered as BOMs and pass the Series 30 exam.

Form 8-R collects background, employment, and disciplinary information; statutory disqualification may bar registration.

Firms must verify AP registration status and terminate or transfer registration when employment ends.

Ongoing training should cover sales practices, AML, recordkeeping, and ethics, with attendance documented.

The firm must supervise AP outside business activities and outside accounts.

Firm and AP registrations must be updated for material changes such as name, address, and disciplinary events.

NFA Bylaw 1101 requires verifying that counterparties required to be registered are NFA members.