By October 1, 2012, FCMs that are regulated by a U.S. prudential regulator or are also registrants of the SEC must have a designated Chief Compliance Officer under CFTC Regulation 3.3.  The CCO must be listed as a principal of the firm and the CCO will be required to file annual report containing the following information:

• a description of the written policies and procedures, including the code of ethics and conflict of interest policies;
• an assessment of the policies and procedures that are designed to ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and a discussion of the potential areas for improvement;
• a listing of any material changes to the compliance policies and procedures;
• a description of the financial, managerial, operational and staffing resources set aside for compliance; and
• a description of any material non-compliance issues and any corresponding actions taken.

The report must be submitted to the CFTC through the Winjammer system within 90 days of the end of the FCM’s fiscal year.  The first report should be filed for the period from October 1, 2012 through the date of the FCM’s fiscal year end. 

All other FCMs – those not regulated by a U.S. prudential regulator and not registered with the SEC – must comply with the CCO requirements by March 29, 2013.  IB, CPO and CTA members are not required to have a CCO.