II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 552 

To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to exempt certain charitable organizations from regulation as commodity pool operators, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to exempt certain 

charitable organizations from regulation as commodity 

pool operators, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. EXEMPTION OF QUALIFIED CHARITABLE ORGA4 NIZATIONS FROM REGULATION AS COM5 MODITY POOL OPERATORS. 

6 Section 4m of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 

7 U.S.C. 6m) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 4M. (1) It’’ and inserting 

9 the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 552 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 4m. USE OF MAILS OR OTHER MEANS OR INSTRU2 MENTALITIES OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE 

3 BY COMMODITY TRADING ADVISORS AND 

4 COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS. 

5 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It’’; 

7 (2) in the second sentence— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘The provisions of this sec9 tion’’ and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) COMMODITY TRADING ADVISORS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

13 (ii) and except as provided in subpara14 graphs (B) and (C), this section’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘commodity trading advi16 sor who is a (1) dealer’’ and inserting the fol17 lowing: ‘‘commodity trading advisor who is a— 

18 ‘‘(I) dealer’’; 

19 (C) by striking ‘‘or (2) nonprofit’’ and in20 serting the following: ‘‘; or 

21 ‘‘(II) nonprofit’’; 

22 (D) by striking ‘‘Commodity Futures 

23 Trading Commission Act of 1974; if the advice 

24 by the person described in clause (1) or (2) of 

25 this sentence’’ and inserting the following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 552 IS

1 ‘‘Commodity Futures Trading Commission Act 

2 of 1974. 

3 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABILITY.—Clause (i) only 

4 applies if the advice by the person de5 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of clause 

6 (i)’’; 

7 (E) by striking ‘‘business:’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘business.’’; and 

9 (F) by striking ‘‘Provided, That such per10 son shall be subject to proceedings under sec11 tion 14 of this Act.’’ and inserting the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(B) COMPLAINTS AGAINST EXCEPTED

14 PERSONS.—A person described in subclause (I) 

15 or (II) of clause (i) shall be subject to pro16 ceedings under section 14. 

17 ‘‘(C) CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS.—This 

18 section shall not apply to any commodity trad19 ing advisor or commodity pool operator that 

20 is— 

21 ‘‘(i) a charitable organization, as de22 fined in section 3(c)(10)(D)(iii) of the In23 vestment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 

24 80a–3(c)(10)(D)(iii)), or a trustee, direc25 tor, officer, employee, or volunteer of such 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 552 IS

1 a charitable organization acting within the 

2 scope of the employment or duties of the 

3 person with the organization, whose trad4 ing advice is provided only to, or with re5 spect to, 1 or more of— 

6 ‘‘(I) any such charitable organi7 zations; or 

8 ‘‘(II) an investment trust, syn9 dicate, or similar form of enterprise 

10 excluded from the definition of ‘invest11 ment company’ pursuant to section 

12 3(c)(10) of the Investment Company 

13 Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a– 

14 3(c)(10)); or 

15 ‘‘(ii) any plan, company, or account 

16 described in section 3(c)(14) of the Invest17 ment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 

18 80a–3(c)(14)), any person or entity who 

19 establishes or maintains such a plan, com20 pany, or account, or any trustee, director, 

21 officer, employee, or volunteer for any of 

22 the foregoing plans, persons, or entities 

23 acting within the scope of the employment 

24 or duties of the person with the organiza25 tion, whose trading advice is provided only 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 552 IS

1 to, or with respect to, any investment 

2 trust, syndicate, or similar form of enter3 prise excluded from the definition of ‘in4 vestment company’ pursuant to section 

5 3(c)(14) of the Investment Company Act 

6 of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–3(c)(14)).’’; 

7 (3) by striking ‘‘(2) Nothing in this Act’’ and 

8 inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW.—Nothing in 

10 this Act’’; 

11 (4) by striking ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—’’ and all 

12 that follows through ‘‘Paragraph (1) shall not 

13 apply’’ and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 

16 apply’’; 

17 (5) by striking ‘‘(B) ENGAGED PRIMARILY.— 

18 For purposes of subparagraph (A)’’ and inserting 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) ENGAGED PRIMARILY.—For purposes of 

21 paragraph (1)’’; 

22 (6) by striking ‘‘(C) COMMODITY INTERESTS.— 

23 For purposes of this paragraph’’ and inserting the 

24 following: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 552 IS

1 ‘‘(3) COMMODITY INTERESTS.—For purposes of 

2 this subsection’’; and 

3 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE CONCERNING EXEMPTED CHARI5 TABLE ORGANIZATIONS.—A commodity trading advisor or 

6 commodity pool operator that is an organization or person 

7 described in subsection (a)(2)(C)(i) to or of any invest8 ment trust, syndicate, or similar form of enterprise ex9 cluded from the definition of ‘investment company’ pursu10 ant to section 3(c)(10)(B) of the Investment Company Act 

11 of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–3(c)(10)(B)) shall provide disclo12 sure in accordance with section 7(e) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 80a–7(e)).’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS