Title 17—Commodity and Securities Exchanges--Volume 1
PART 156—BROKER ASSOCIATIONS
§ 156.1   Definition.
For the purposes of this part, the term broker association as applied to each board of trade shall include two or more contract market members with floor trading privileges, of whom at least one is acting as a floor broker, who: (1) Engage in floor brokerage activity on behalf of the same employer, (2) have an employer and employee relationship which relates to floor brokerage activity, (3) share profits and losses associated with their brokerage or trading activity, or (4) regularly share a deck of orders.
§ 156.2   Registration of broker association.
(a) Registration required. It shall be unlawful for any member of a broker association to receive or to execute an order unless the broker association is registered with the appropriate contract market in accordance with part (b) of this section.
(b) Contract market rules required. Each contract market must adopt and maintain in effect rules, which have been submitted to the Commission pursuant to section 5a(a)(12)(A) of the Act and Commission Regulation 1.41, that, at a minimum, (1) define the term “broker association” to include the relationships set forth in § 156.1 of this part, (2) prohibit conduct described in paragraph (a) of this section, and (3) require registration of each relationship defined by its rules as a broker association no later than 10 days after establishment of such relationship. Contract market records of registration shall include the following information with respect to each broker association, if applicable:
(i) Name;
(ii) Form of organization, e.g., partnership, corporation, trust, etc.;
(iii) Name of each person who is a member or otherwise has a direct beneficial interest in the association;
(iv) Badge symbols and numbers for all members;
(v) Account numbers for all accounts of any member, accounts in which any member(s) has an interest, and any proprietary or customer accounts controlled by any member(s);
(vi) Identification of all other broker associations with which each member is associated; and
(vii) Individual(s) authorized to represent the association in connection with its registration obligations.
Any registration information provided to the contract market which becomes deficient or inaccurate must be updated or corrected promptly.
(c) Other contract market rules. (1) Each contract market may submit rules pursuant to section 5a(a)(12)(A) of the Act and Commission Regulation 1.41 that interpret when contract market members would be deemed to “regularly share a deck of orders.” In the absence of such rules, a contract market must make such a determination on a case-by-case basis. The basis for a determination whether brokers “regularly share a deck of orders” must be documented.
(2) Each contract market may adopt rules, which must be submitted to the Commission pursuant to section 5a(a)(12)(A) of the Act and Commission Regulation 1.41, which set forth the basis and procedures for granting exemptions from the registration requirement contained in paragraph (b) of this section for de minimis activity.
§ 156.3   Contract market program for enforcement.
A contract market must, as part of its responsibilities pursuant to the Act and § 1.51, demonstrate effective use of broker association registration information to monitor the trading activity of broker associations and their members for potential abuse and to secure compliance with all other contract market bylaws, rules, regulations and resolutions which may pertain to such associations or their members.
§ 156.4   Disclosure of Broker Association Membership.
Each contract market shall make available to the public generally and upon request a list of all registered broker associations which identifies for each such association the name of each person who is a member or otherwise has a direct beneficial interest in the association. This list shall be updated at least semi-annually.