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6351-01-P

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 4

RIN Number 3038-AE98

Amendments to Compliance Requirements for Commodity Pool Operators on Form 

CPO-PQR

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Final Rule.

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) is 

adopting amendments (the Final Rule) to Commission regulation 4.27 and to Form CPOPQR, also the form, which is codified in appendix A to part 4 of the Commission’s 

regulations. Specifically, the Commission is: (1) eliminating existing Schedules B and C 

of Form CPO-PQR, except for the Pool Schedule of Investments; (2) amending the 

information requirements and instructions to request Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) for 

commodity pool operators (CPOs) and their operated pools that have them, and to delete

questions regarding pool auditors and marketers; and (3) making certain other changes 

due to the rescission of Schedules B and C, including the elimination of all existing 

reporting thresholds. Pursuant to the Final Rule, all reporting CPOs will be required to 

file the revised Form CPO-PQR (Revised Form CPO-PQR or the Revised Form)

quarterly. The Final Rule also amends Commission regulation 4.27 to permit reporting 

CPOs to file NFA Form PQR, a comparable form required by the National Futures 

Association (NFA), in lieu of filing the Commission’s Revised Form. Conversely, Form 
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PF will no longer be accepted in lieu of the Revised Form, though it will remain a 

Commission form. 

DATES: 

Effective Date: The effective date for the Final Rule, including the adoption of the 

Revised Form, is [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS FOLLOWING DATE OF PUBLICATION 

IN FEDERAL REGISTER].

Compliance Date: All reporting CPOs will be required to file the Revised Form with 

respect to their operated pools for the first calendar quarter of 2021 ending on March 31, 

2021. The deadline for filing the Revised Form for that reporting period is sixty days 

after the quarter-end, or May 30, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua B. Sterling, Director, at 202-

418-6700 or jsterling@cftc.gov; Amanda Lesher Olear, Deputy Director, at 202-418-

5283 or aolear@cftc.gov; Pamela M. Geraghty, Associate Director, at 202-418-5634 or 

pgeraghty@cftc.gov; Elizabeth Groover, Special Counsel, at (202) 418-5985 or 

egroover@cftc.gov; or Christopher Cummings, Special Counsel, at (202) 418-5445 or 

ccummings@cftc.gov, Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1151 21st Street, N.W., 

Washington, DC 20581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction and Background

A. Overview of Form CPO-PQR, as Originally Adopted

B. The Proposal

II. Final Rule

A. General Comments and Adopting the Revised Form

B. The Elimination of Schedules B and C from the Revised Form

C. Adoption of the Proposed Schedule of Investments in the Revised Form

D. Retaining the Five Percent Threshold for Reportable Assets
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E. Adding LEI Fields to the Revised Form

F. The Revised Form’s Definitions, Instructions, and Questions

i. Quarterly Filing Schedule for All CPOs Completing the Revised Form

ii. Instructions 3 and 5

iii. Instruction 4

iv. Definition of “Broker”

v. Elimination of Questions Regarding Auditors and Marketers

vi. FAQs and Glossary

G. Substituted Compliance

i. NFA Form PQR

ii. Joint Form PF

iii. Substituted Compliance for CPOs of Registered Investment Companies

H. Compliance Date

III. Related Matters

A. Regulatory Flexibility Act

B. Paperwork Reduction Act

i. Overview

ii. Revisions to the Collection of Information: OMB Control Number 3038-0005

C. Cost-benefit Considerations

i. The Elimination of Pool-Specific Reporting Requirements in Schedules B and 

C

ii. The Revised Form

iii. Alternatives

iv. Section 15(a) Factors

D. Antitrust Laws

I. Introduction and Background

Section 1a(11) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA or the Act)1 defines the 

term “commodity pool operator,” as any person

2 engaged in a business that is of the 

nature of a commodity pool, investment trust, syndicate, or similar form of enterprise, 

and who, with respect to that commodity pool, solicits, accepts, or receives from others, 

funds, securities, or property, either directly or through capital contributions, the sale of 

 1 7 U.S.C. 1a(11). The Act is found at 7 U.S.C. 1, et seq. (2018) and is accessible through the 

Commission’s website, https://www.cftc.gov.

2 7 U.S.C. 1a(38); 17 CFR 1.3, “person” (defining “person” to include individuals, associations, 

partnerships, corporations, and trusts). The Commission’s regulations are found at 17 CFR Ch. I (2020) 

and are accessible through the Commission’s website, https://www.cftc.gov.
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stock or other forms of securities, or otherwise, for the purpose of trading in commodity 

interests.3 CEA section 4m(1) generally requires each person who satisfies the CPO 

definition to register as such with the Commission.4

 CEA section 4n(3)(A) requires 

registered CPOs to maintain books and records and file such reports in such form and 

manner as may be prescribed by the Commission.5

Following the enactment in 2010 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act)6 and subsequent joint adoption with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Form PF (Joint Form PF) for advisers to 

large private funds,

7 the CFTC adopted a new reporting requirement for CPOs through

Commission regulation 4.27, which, among other things, requires certain CPOs to report 

periodically on Form CPO-PQR.

8

 The Commission proposed this new reporting 

requirement after reevaluating its regulatory approach to CPOs due to the 2008 financial 

crisis and the purposes and goals of the Dodd-Frank Act in light of the then-current 

economic environment. Amendments to the CPO regulatory program adopted at that 

time, including Form CPO-PQR and Commission regulation 4.27, were intended to: (1) 

align the Commission’s regulatory structure for CPOs with the purposes of the DoddFrank Act; (2) encourage more congruent and consistent regulation by Federal financial 

regulatory agencies of similarly-situated entities, such as dually registered CPOs required 

 3 7 U.S.C. 1a(11); see also 17 CFR 1.3, “commodity pool operator.” 4 7 U.S.C. 6m(1).

5 7 U.S.C. 6n(3)(A). Registered CPOs have regulatory reporting obligations with respect to their operated 

pools. See, e.g., 17 CFR 4.22. 6 Pub. L. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). 7 Section 202(a)(29) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) defines the term “private fund” 

as “an issuer that would be an investment company, as defined in section 3 of the Investment Company Act 

of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-3), but for section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of that Act.” Advisers Act Section 202(a)(29), 

15 U.S.C. 80ab-2(a)(29). 8 Commodity Pool Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors: Compliance Obligations, 77 FR 11252 

(Feb. 24, 2012) (Form CPO-PQR Final Rule); 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A; 17 CFR 4.27.
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to file Joint Form PF; (3) improve accountability and increase transparency of the 

activities of CPOs and the commodity pools that they operate or advise; and (4) facilitate 

a data collection that would potentially assist the Financial Stability Oversight Counsel 

(FSOC).

9

 To that end, the requirements of Form CPO-PQR were modeled closely after 

those of Joint Form PF.10

In adopting Form CPO-PQR, the Commission indicated that the collected data 

would be used for several broad purposes, including: (1) increasing the Commission’s 

understanding of its registrant population; (2) assessing the market risk associated with 

pooled investment vehicles under its jurisdiction; and (3) monitoring for systemic risk.11 

Specifically, the Commission was interested in receiving information regarding the 

operations of CPOs and their pools, including their participation in commodity interest 

markets, their relationships with intermediaries, and their interconnectedness with the 

financial system at large.

12 In proposing the majority of the more pool-specific questions 

in the form, in particular, the Commission believed the incoming data would assist it in 

monitoring commodity pools in such a way as to allow the Commission to identify trends 

over time, including a pool’s exposure to asset classes, the composition and liquidity of a 

commodity pool’s portfolio, and a pool’s susceptibility to failure in times of stress.13

Although the Commission recognized that the requested data may have some limitations, 

it believed that, in light of the 2008 financial crisis and the sources of risk delineated in 

 9 Commodity Pool Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors: Compliance Obligations, 76 FR 7976, 

7978 (Feb. 11, 2011) (Form CPO-PQR Proposal). 10 Id. (“The Commission proposes [Form CPO-PQR] to solicit information that is generally identical to that 

sought through Form PF”). Commission regulation 4.27 further permits the filing of Joint Form PF in lieu 

of Commission filing requirements (i.e., Form CPO-PQR) for CPOs that are dually registered with the SEC 

as investment advisers. 17 CFR 4.27(d).

11 Form CPO-PQR Final Rule, 77 FR at 11253-54. 12 Id. at 11266-67. 13 Form CPO-PQR Proposal, 76 FR at 7981.
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the Dodd-Frank Act with respect to private funds, the detailed, pool-specific information 

to be collected by Form CPO-PQR was both necessary and appropriately balanced to 

assess the risks posed by a single pool, or a CPO’s operations as a whole.14

On April 16, 2020, the Commission unanimously approved, and, on May 4, 2020, 

subsequently published in the Federal Register, a notice of proposed rulemaking 

(Proposal or NPRM) that proposed to amend both Commission regulation 4.27 and Form 

CPO-PQR.

15 In the Proposal, the Commission stated that, after seven years of 

experience with the form, the Commission was reassessing the form’s scope and 

alignment with the Commission’s current regulatory priorities.16 The Commission

explained that its ability to make full use of the more detailed information collected under 

the form has not met the Commission’s initial expectations.17 The Commission 

emphasized that, since the form’s adoption, it has devoted substantial resources to 

developing other data streams and regulatory initiatives, which are designed to enhance 

the Commission’s ability to broadly surveil financial markets for risk posed by all

manner of market participants, including CPOs and their operated pools.18

Thus, as further explained in the discussion that follows, the Commission has 

concluded that the form should be revised to better facilitate the Commission’s oversight 

of CPOs and their operated pools, as well as its coordination of other Commission data 

streams and regulatory initiatives, while reducing the overall reporting burdens for CPOs 

required to file the Revised Form. 

 14 Id. 15 Amendments to Compliance Requirements for Commodity Pool Operators on Form CPO-PQR, 85 FR 

26378 (May 4, 2020) (2020 CPO-PQR NPRM). 16 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26380. 17 Id. 18 Id.
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A. Overview of Form CPO-PQR, as Originally Adopted

Pursuant to Commission regulation 4.27, any CPO registered or required to be 

registered with the Commission is a “reporting person,” except for a CPO that operates 

only pools for which it maintains an exclusion from the CPO definition available under

Commission regulation 4.5, and/or an exemption from CPO registration available under

Commission regulation 4.13.

19 The amount of information that a reporting CPO has been

required to disclose on the form varies depending on the size of the operator and the 

quantity and size of the operated pools.20 

The form, as adopted in 2012, identifies three classes of filers: Large CPOs, MidSized CPOs, and Small CPOs. The thresholds for determining Large and Mid-Sized 

CPO status, and thus their reporting obligations, generally align with those in Joint Form 

PF.

21 A Large CPO is a CPO that had at least $1.5 billion in aggregated pool assets 

under management (AUM)22 as of the close of business on any day during the reporting 

period; a Mid-Sized CPO is a CPO that had at least $150 million, but less than $1.5 

billion, in aggregated pool AUM as of the close of business on any day during the 

reporting period.23 Although not defined in the form, “Small CPO,” as used herein, 

refers to a CPO that had less than $150 million in aggregated pool AUM during the 

 19 17 CFR 4.27(b)(1)(i); see also 17 CFR 4.27(b)(2)(i) (establishing that CPOs operating only pools for 

which they claim relief under 17 CFR 4.5 or 4.13 are not considered “reporting persons” for purposes of 

the Form CPO-PQR filing requirement). 20 See generally 17 CFR pt. 4 app. A, “Reporting Instructions.” 21 See generally Instructions to Form PF, available at http://www.sec.gov/about/forms/formpf.pdf. Private 

fund investment advisers with “regulatory AUM,” as that term is defined in Form PF, of at least $150 

million are required to file Section 1 of Form PF; private fund investment advisers with regulatory AUM 

equal to or exceeding $1.5 billion are required to file Sections 1 and 2 of Form PF. Id. 22 As used in the form, AUM refers to the amount of all assets that are under the control of the CPO. 17 

CFR pt 4, app. A “Definition of Terms” (providing specific definitions for terminology used in the form, 

including AUM). The “Definition of Terms” section of the form is renamed by this Final Rule “Defined 

Terms” in the Revised Form.

23 Id.
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reporting period. The reporting period for Large CPOs is any of the individual calendar 

quarters (ending March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31), whereas, for

Small and Mid-Sized CPOs, the reporting period is the calendar year.24

Prior to the Final Rule amendments adopted herein, Form CPO-PQR consisted of 

three schedules: Schedules A, B, and C.25 Schedule A requires reporting CPOs to 

disclose basic identifying information about the CPO (Part 1) and about each of the 

CPO’s pools and the service providers they use (Part 2).26 Consistent with the 

“Reporting Period” definitions described above, Large CPOs submit Schedule A on a 

quarterly basis, whereas all other reporting CPOs submit it annually.27 Schedule B 

requires additional detailed information for each pool operated by Mid-Sized and Large 

CPOs, in particular regarding each operated pool’s investment strategy, borrowings and 

types of creditors, counterparty credit exposure, trading and clearing mechanisms, value 

of aggregated derivative positions, and schedule of investments.28 Large CPOs also 

submit Schedule B on a quarterly basis; Mid-Sized CPOs are required to complete and 

submit Schedule B annually.29

Schedule C requires further detailed information about the pools operated by 

Large CPOs on an aggregate and pool-by-pool basis. Part 1 of Schedule C requires 

aggregate information for all pools operated by a Large CPO, including (1) a 

 24 Id. (defining “Reporting Period”). The form additionally defines, “Reporting Date,” as “the last calendar 

day of the Reporting Period for which this Form CPO-PQR is required to be completed and filed,” e.g., 

“the Reporting Date for the first calendar quarter of a year is March 31.” Id. For Mid-Sized and Small 

CPOs, their Reporting Date would therefore be December 31. Id. 25 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, “Reporting Instructions.” 26 Id., at “Reporting Instructions,” no. 2. 27 Id. 28 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, Sched. B, “Detailed Information About the Pools Operated by Mid-Sized CPOs 

and Large CPOs.”

29 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, “Reporting Instructions,” no. 2.
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geographical breakdown of the pools’ investment on an aggregated basis, and (2) the 

turnover rate of the aggregate portfolio of pools.30 Part 2 of Schedule C requires certain 

detailed information for each “Large Pool” the Large CPO operates,31 where a “Large 

Pool” is a commodity pool that has a net asset value (NAV)32 individually, or in 

combination with any parallel pool structure,33 of at least $500 million as of the close of 

business on any day during the reporting period.34 Specifically, Part 2 requires 

information with respect to each Large Pool the Large CPO operates during the given 

reporting period; this section of the form elicits information regarding the Large Pool’s: 

(1) identity; (2) liquidity; (3) counterparty credit exposure; (4) risk metrics; (5) 

borrowing; (6) derivative positions and posted collateral; (7) financing liquidity; (8) 

participant information; and (9) the duration of its fixed income assets.35 Large CPOs 

complete and file Schedule C on a quarterly basis: this filing includes Part 1 of Schedule 

C, as well as a separate Part 2 for each Large Pool that a Large CPO operates during the 

reporting period.36 If a CPO is also registered with the SEC as an investment adviser,

and is therefore required to file Joint Form PF regarding its advisory services to private 

funds,

37 the CPO is deemed to have satisfied its Schedules B and C filing requirements,

 30 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, Sched. C, pt. 1. 31 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, Sched. C, pt. 2, “Information About the Large Pools of Large CPOs.” 32 As used in Form CPO-PQR, the term “net asset value” has the same meaning as in Commission 

Regulation 4.10(b). See 17 CFR 4.10(b) (defining “net asset value” as “total assets minus total liabilities, 

determined in accord with generally accepted accounting principles, with each position in a commodity 

interest transaction accounted for at a fair market value”).

33 As used in the form, the term “parallel pool structure” means “any structure in which one or more Pools 

pursues substantially the same investment objective and strategy and invests side by side in substantially 

the same assets as another Pool.” 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, “Definitions of Terms.” 34 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, Sched. C, pt. 2, “Information About the Large Pools of Large CPOs.” 35 Id. 36 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, “Reporting Instructions,” no. 2. 37 As used in the form, the term “private fund” has the same meaning as the definition of “private fund” in 

Joint Form PF. 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, “Definitions of Terms.”
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provided that the CPO completes and files the referenced sections of Joint Form PF with 

respect to the pool(s) operated during the reporting period.

38

In addition to Joint Form PF and Form CPO-PQR, in 2010, NFA adopted and 

implemented its own NFA Form PQR to elicit data in support of NFA’s risk-based 

examination program for its CPO membership.

39 Pursuant to NFA Compliance Rule 2-

46, all CPO NFA members, which includes all CPOs registered with the Commission, 

must file NFA Form PQR on a quarterly basis with respect to all of their operated 

pools.

40 NFA accepts the filing of Form CPO-PQR (but not Joint Form PF) in lieu of 

filing NFA Form PQR for any quarter in which a Form CPO-PQR filing is required under 

Commission regulation 4.27.41 Consequently, dually registered CPO-investment advisers 

that file Joint Form PF in lieu of a Form CPO-PQR filing, consistent with Commission 

regulation 4.27(d), as it read prior to the amendments adopted herein, are also required to 

file NFA Form PQR with NFA quarterly.

B. The Proposal

 38 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, “Reporting Instructions,” no. 2.

39 NFA Compliance Rule 2-46 (2017), available at

https://www.nfa.futures.org/rulebook/rules.aspx?RuleID=RULE%202-46&Section=4 (noting this rule was 

initially adopted effective March 31, 2010, and subsequently amended in 2013, 2016, and most recently, 

2017). Commission regulations require each person registered as a CPO to become and remain a member 

of at least one registered futures association, of which there is currently one, i.e., NFA. See 17 CFR 

170.17.

40 NFA Compliance Rule 2-46(a). CFTC staff has previously advised that reporting CPOs should exclude 

all pools operated subject to relief provided in either 17 CFR 4.5 or 4.13 from their Form CPO-PQR filings, 

including with respect to any applicable reporting threshold calculations. CFTC Division of Swap Dealer 

and Intermediary Oversight Responds to Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Commission Form CPOPQR (Nov. 5, 2015) (2015 CPO-PQR FAQs), available at

http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@newsroom/documents/file/faq_cpocta.pdf (2015 CPO-PQR 

FAQs). NFA Form PQR similarly focuses its data collection efforts on the listed pools of registered CPO 

Members. NFA may, however, use NFA Form PQR to collect information beyond that collected by the 

Commission’s Revised Form. See, e.g., NFA Compliance Rule 2-46(b). Nothing in the Commission’s 

Proposal or the Final Rule restricts NFA’s ability to require reporting beyond that required by the 

Commission, provided that such NFA requirements are consistent with the CEA and Commission 

regulations promulgated thereunder. See 7 U.S.C. 17(j). 41 NFA Compliance Rule 2-46(b).
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As noted above, the Commission published the NPRM on May 4, 2020, 

proposing substantial revisions to Form CPO-PQR, as well as several amendments to 

Commission regulation 4.27.

42 Specifically, the Commission proposed to eliminate the 

requirement to complete and submit Schedules B or C of the form, with the exception of 

the Pool Schedule of Investments (PSOI) (currently, question 6 of Schedule B). The 

Commission proposed to retain the questions set forth in current Schedule A with certain

amendments, notably the addition of questions regarding LEIs, and the deletion of

questions regarding pool marketers and auditors.

43 Thus, the Commission proposed the 

Revised Form consisting of a revised Schedule A, plus the PSOI and the instructions and 

definitions in the current form that remain relevant.

44 The Proposal required all reporting 

CPOs to file the Revised Form on a quarterly basis, regardless of AUM or size of 

operations, and such reporting CPOs would be permitted to file the NFA Form PQR in 

lieu of the Revised Form.45 The Proposal included an amendment to Commission 

regulation 4.27(d) that would eliminate the substituted compliance currently available for

dually registered CPO-investment advisers required to file Joint Form PF with respect to 

their operated private funds, while retaining Joint Form PF as a Commission form. The 

comment period for the Proposal expired on June 15, 2020, and the Commission received 

 42 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM. 43 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26381, 26383. 44 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26381. 45 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26381 and 26389 (proposing to amend Commission regulation 

4.27(c)(1) by adding substituted compliance for this filing requirement with respect to NFA Form PQR).
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ten relevant46 comment letters: two from individuals; one from a registered futures 

association; and seven from industry professional and trade associations.47

II. Final Rule

A. General Comments and Adopting the Revised Form 

The comments that the Commission received were, in general, strongly supportive 

of the Proposal.

48 Commenters largely agreed with the proposed amendments and 

viewed the proposal of the Revised Form as a “helpful improvement to the current

system.”49 Multiple commenters stated that the Proposal, if adopted, would simplify 

CPO reporting requirements, significantly reduce filers’ reporting burdens, increase the 

regulatory integrity and utility of the data collected by the Revised Form, and serve as a 

critical step in the development of a “holistic market surveillance program,” with respect 

to registered CPOs and the pools they operate.

50 Similarly, NFA stated its support of 

“the Commission’s efforts to streamline and simplify the reporting requirements for 

CPOs,” and its belief that “the [P]roposal will satisfy the Commission’s goal of reducing 

 46 The Commission received a total of 14 comment letters, four of which were either spam or otherwise not 

substantively relevant to the Proposal in any respect.

47 Comments were submitted by Mr. Chris Barnard (Barnard) (May 8, 2020); NFA (June 10, 2020); the 

Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) (June 11, 2020); the Depository Trust and 

Clearing Corporation (DTCC) (June 15, 2020); the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) 

(June 15, 2020); the Managed Funds Association (MFA) (June 15, 2020); the Investment Adviser 

Association (IAA) (June 15, 2020); the Securities Industry and Financial Market Association Asset 

Management Group (SIFMA AMG) (June 15, 2020); Ms. Talece Y. Hunter (Hunter) (June 15, 2020); and 

the Investment Company Institute (ICI) (June 15, 2020). The complete comment file for the 2020 CPOPQR NPRM can be found on the Commission’s website. Comments for Proposed Rule 85 FR 26378, 

available at https://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentList.aspx?3098. 48 See, e.g., DTCC, at 2.

49 ICI, at 4 (noting that “the Proposal would significantly reduce the reporting burdens to which registered 

fund CPOs are currently subject”).

50 Hunter, at 1; AIMA, at 2; SIFMA AMG, at 2; Barnard, at 1. 
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reporting requirements in a manner that continues to facilitate effective oversight of 

CPOs and the pools they operate.”51 

Although MFA stated its preference for a consolidated form for both SEC and 

CFTC filings with respect to pooled investment vehicles and their operators or advisers, 

MFA nonetheless expressed its strong support for the Proposal’s Revised Form.52 

Similarly, SIFMA AMG stated that the Proposal is well-aligned with the Commission’s 

intended purpose for it, and subject to recommended revisions, strongly recommended it 

be adopted.53 Encouraged by the Commission’s proposed amendments eliminating 

significant pool-specific sections of the form, AIMA requested that the Commission 

consider further reducing the scope of the Revised Form, if at all possible.

54 

After considering the public comments received, the Commission has determined 

to adopt the Revised Form and the amendments to Commission regulation 4.27, largely 

as proposed, in furtherance of its regulatory goals with respect to registered CPOs and 

their operated pools,55 as explained in the Proposal.

56 Today’s Final Rule constitutes the 

first of several steps in the Commission’s ongoing reassessment of Form CPO-PQR, the 

substantive information it seeks to collect, and the form and manner in which the 

Commission collects and uses that information. 

B. The Elimination of Schedules B and C from the Revised Form

 51 NFA, at 1. 52 MFA, at 1-2. 53 SIFMA AMG, at 2. 54 AIMA, at 2-3 (stating also that AIMA welcomed the Proposal, instead of “incremental and nontransformative change,” and was “in favour of making better use of data obtained through other reporting 

obligations”).

55 Consistent with past Commission staff guidance, “operated pools,” as used in this document, means those 

pools for which a CPO is required to be registered with the Commission. 

56 2020 CPO-PQR Proposal, 85 FR at 26381-84.
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In proposing to eliminate a majority of the pool-specific reporting requirements in 

Schedules B and C of Form CPO-PQR, the Commission observed that, “challenges with

the data collected in Schedules B and C, combined with the resource constraints of 

broader Commission priorities, have frustrated the Commission’s ability to fully realize 

[its] vision [for this data collection].”57 As described above, the eliminated data elements 

in Schedules B and C include detailed pool-specific information, asset liquidity and 

concentration of positions, clearing relationships, risk metrics, financing, and investor 

composition.58 In explaining the proposed rescission of Schedules B and C, the 

Commission stated that its “ability to identify trends across CPOs or pools using Form

CPO-PQR data has been substantially challenged,” due to the post hoc nature of the 

previous filings and the substantial amount of flexibility the Commission permitted for 

CPOs completing the form.59 In the Proposal, the Commission noted that certain of its 

“alternate data streams provide a more timely, standardized, and reliable view into 

relevant market activity than that provided under Form CPO-PQR, which make them 

much easier to combine into a holistic surveillance program.”60

The proposed removal of Schedules B and C was broadly supported by 

commenters.61 For instance, IAA supported the Commission’s efforts to streamline the 

process, stating, “We appreciate the CFTC tailoring the regulatory reporting requirements 

for CPOs to limit data collection that the Commission will make use of[,] and eliminating 

the more detailed information in Form CPO-PQR that has not been helpful for the 

 57 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26381. 58 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26380. 

59 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26381. 60 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26382. 61 E.g., IAA, at 3-4; NFA, at 1-2. 
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CFTC’s oversight purposes.”62 Furthermore, ICI concurred with the Commission that 

the agency’s limited resources should not be spent on trying to make use of the 

“voluminous and very specific pool-level data sought in Schedules B and C.”63 

Expressing support for the elimination of Schedules B and C, as well as the retention of a 

revised PSOI for each pool, SIFMA AMG praised the Commission for recognizing 

“lessons learned” from seven years of experience with the form and the data it has 

elicited.64 SIFMA AMG described the Proposal as a demonstration of the CFTC’s 

consideration of the utility of the data currently collected by the form, and balancing that 

against the successful use of other Commission data streams, which were developed after 

the form was initially adopted.65 In addition, SIFMA AMG strongly supported the 

adoption of a streamlined Revised Form for all CPOs and their pools, thereby eliminating 

the CPO and pool threshold calculations that dictated the scope and burden of each 

CPO’s Form CPO-PQR filing.66

Due to the logistical and timing difficulties the Commission explained in detail in 

the NPRM,67 the Commission has determined to forego the collection of the detailed 

information requested by Schedules B and C of Form CPO-PQR, in part, because the 

Commission was not able to fully incorporate the resulting data set into its oversight 

program for registered CPOs and their operated pools. The Commission acknowledges 

the strong support from commenters with respect to this particular amendment, and 

 62 IAA, at 4. 63 ICI, at 6. 64 SIFMA AMG, at 4. 65 SIFMA AMG, at 4-5. 66 SIFMA AMG, at 6 (noting that these threshold calculations for CPO and pool size have proved difficult 

to practically apply and calculate). 

67 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26381.
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believes that, in conjunction with other amendments explained below, the Commission 

will receive more complete and usable data regarding CPOs’ pool operations due to the 

more targeted data collected in the Revised Form. Accordingly, Schedules B and C, 

along with all references to the thresholds associated therewith, have been removed in 

their entirety from the Revised Form adopted by the Commission. 

C. Adoption of the Proposed Schedule of Investments in the Revised Form

One of the specific questions posed by the Commission in the Proposal was:

“Should the Commission consider amending the Schedule of Investments to align with 

the simpler schedule that appeared in NFA Form PQR in 2010?”68 The Commission 

received several comments on the content of the proposed PSOI, including multiple

recommendations that the Commission adopt a schedule in the Revised Form that aligned

with the former Schedule of Investments originally adopted by NFA in 2010 for its NFA 

Form PQR (2010 Schedule of Investments).

69 The 2010 Schedule of Investments is less

detailed than the PSOI currently in use by both Form CPO-PQR and NFA Form PQR.70

Several of the commenters argued that the detailed information required by the 

proposed PSOI is no longer necessary in the broader context of the Revised Form. For 

instance, NFA, in a comment that was supported by both MFA and ICI, supported 

aligning with the 2010 Schedule of Investments because a “more streamlined schedule 

will significantly alleviate filing burdens on CPOs without negatively impacting the 

 68 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26384. 69 IAA, at 4; ICI, at 6; NFA, at 1-2; MFA, at 3. 70 See infra pt. II.G.i for additional discussion on permissible substituted compliance for Commission 

regulation 4.27 with respect to NFA Form PQR.
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usefulness of the information that is collected.”71 NFA explained that it does not need 

the more granular information in the PSOI, and that this granularity has not, in NFA’s 

experience, improved their analysis, in part, because “very few CPOs include balances on 

a significant number of line items set forth in the current schedule.”72 IAA also 

expressed its support, stating that the specific data fields in the PSOI should be aligned 

with that of NFA Form PQR.73 

The Commission acknowledges and understands commenters’ arguments 

supporting a more narrowly focused PSOI in the Revised Form. Nevertheless, the 

Commission has determined not to make material revisions at this time. Events in the 

bond and energy markets both recently and in its past experience have reinforced the 

Commission’s understanding of the interconnectedness of financial markets, and 

emphasized the importance of understanding how CPOs are positioned vis-à-vis their 

counterparties and the economy as a whole.

74 Moreover, incorporating a PSOI that is 

aligned with the 2010 Schedule of Investments, particularly the 10% asset threshold 

 71 NFA, at 2 (discussing how the 2010 Schedule of Investments elicits the information necessary for NFA’s 

risk assessment purposes). See also ICI, at 4; MFA, at 4. ICI further emphasized that the overall success of 

the Proposal’s revisions to Form CPO-PQR will depend on whether the resulting dataset is appropriately 

calibrated to the Commission’s regulatory interests and limited to data the Commission will employ in 

regulating CPOs and their commodity pools. ICI, at 4. 72 NFA, at 2 (concluding that its 2010 Schedule of Investments “elicits the information necessary for both 

the CFTC’s and NFA’s needs”).

73 IAA, at 5. MFA also supported this alignment and strongly advocates for consistency between the 

Schedules of Investment in the Revised Form and NFA Form PQR. MFA, at 3-4. 74 “Options trading firm blows up amid natural gas volatility,” Financial Times (Nov. 19, 2018), 

https://ft.com/content /b7c525f6-ec44-11e8-89c8-d36339d835c0; “The Shine Is Off,” Slate (June 9, 2013), 

https://www.slate.com/business/2013/06/gold-bubble-paranoid-investors-pushed-gold-to-1900-an-ouncein-2011-but-the-bubble-has-burst; “Bond investors say some energy companies ‘will not survive’ oil rout 

slamming markets,” Market Watch (Mar. 10, 2020), https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bond-investorssay-some-energy-companies-will-not-survive-oil-rout-slamming-markets-2020-03-09; “Global stocks, oil 

prices, and government bonds tumble,” Financial Times (Mar. 18, 2020), 

https://www.ft.com/content/1b1b47d4-68bd-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcca75; “Oil plunges into negative territory 

for the first time ever as demand evaporates,” Business Insider (Apr. 20, 2020), 

https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/news/us-crude-oil-wti-falls-to-21-year-low1029106364#.
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discussed below, in the Revised Form results in a material loss of information from 

reporting CPOs on their operated pools’ alternative investment or derivatives positions, 

which are the primary focus of the Commission’s jurisdiction. For instance, the 

Commission notes that the 2010 Schedule of Investments lacks specific line items for 

crude oil, natural gas, and some precious metals like gold, all of which have been subject 

to significant volatility.

75 

At this time, the Commission believes that reducing the amount of information 

collected with respect to multiple asset classes, particularly those that are under the 

Commission’s primary jurisdictional mandate,76 is premature. The resulting diminished

dataset would provide the Commission an insufficient view into the actual holdings of 

operated commodity pools in markets subject to the Commission’s oversight, which, in 

turn, potentially undermines the Commission’s assessment of the risk posed by CPOs and 

their operated pools within the commodity interest markets and their vulnerabilities when 

faced with challenging market conditions. This information is currently essential to the 

Commission’s ability to identify CPOs and pools with whom the Commission should 

engage more deeply depending on market events, especially in times of unpredictable 

 75 Id.

76 “Gold prices settle at 1-week low as U.S. stock market tumbles,” MarketWatch (Sept. 3, 2020), available 

at https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-heads-for-back-to-back-loss-amid-vaccine-hope-us-dollarstrength-2020-09-03; “Oil sinks with equities on wavering hopes for demand pickup,” Bloomberg (Sept. 3, 

2020, updated Sept. 4, 2020), available at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-03/oilextends-biggest-weekly-drop-since-june-as-demand-woes-return; “U.S. oil prices settle at lowest in nearly 

a month as supplies, output log sharp but temporary hurricane-related drop,” Market Watch (Sept. 2, 2020), 

available at https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-lifted-by-lackluster-bounce-in-opec-crudeoutput-inventory-fall-2020-09-02; “Oil prices continue to slide as U.S. data feeds fuel demand worry,” 

Reuters (Sept. 2, 2020), available at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-prices-continue-toslide-as-us-data-feeds-fuel-demand-worry-idUSKBN25U04D.
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market volatility. Therefore, the Commission has decided to collect the more detailed 

PSOI, as it continues to reassess its data needs in this space. 

In the Commission’s experience, commodity interest markets change over time, 

as do the Commission’s own technological applications, surveillance capabilities, and 

access to real-time data streams, and thus, require the ongoing, careful review of the 

appropriateness of existing regulatory approaches. Accordingly, the Commission hereby 

instructs its staff to evaluate the ongoing utility of the PSOI information in the Revised 

Form, including comparing it to the 2010 Schedule of Investments, within 18-24 months 

following the Final Rule’s Compliance Date. As part of its review the staff should 

consider whether or not it is appropriate to adopt the 2010 Schedule of Investments, in 

light of such utility. After completing this review, and taking into consideration the 

Commission’s current regulatory needs, the Commission expects staff to develop 

recommendations or a proposed rulemaking for the Commission’s further review to 

effectuate staff’s findings. 

In addition, as part of this review, the staff should continue to explore the use of 

data available from designated contract markets, swap execution facilities, and swap data 

repositories – i.e., existing sources of transaction and position data – and its application to 

effecting robust oversight of CPOs and commodity pools, as compared to the information 

received from Revised Form CPO-PQR. In addition, the Commission expects staff to 

continue engaging with the staff of the SEC during the 24-month period about potential 

modifications to Joint Form PF, which should inform further revisions to Revised Form 

CPO-PQR. 
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Consistent with the views expressed by other commenters, NFA stated its belief

that the more limited dataset collected on the 2010 Schedule of Investments would be

sufficient for both NFA’s and the Commission’s purposes.

77 The Commission notes, 

however, that direct oversight of reporting CPOs and their operated pools is only one of 

the uses of the data collected by the Revised Form’s PSOI. This information is also 

useful to the Commission in developing its understanding of the commodity interest 

markets more broadly, including how various asset classes are being utilized by reporting 

CPOs and their operated pools. Although there may be certain subcategories of asset 

classes that have not had many, if any, responses over the past six reporting periods, that

does not mean that such subcategories of asset classes may not become more widely used 

in the future, or that a pool’s exposure to asset classes that are currently less widely 

utilized would not be useful in overseeing the operations of reporting CPOs and their 

pools going forward. Eliminating questions due solely to a lack of past responses seems 

to presume that the operations and pool trading activity of reporting CPOs will remain 

static going forward. The Commission knows from its direct regulatory experience in 

overseeing CPOs that such a presumption is false because these registrants and their 

pools exhibit high levels of variability and dynamism in their investment strategies.

D. Retaining the Five Percent Threshold for Reportable Assets

Aligning the Revised Form’s PSOI with the 2010 Schedule of Investments would 

include increasing the threshold for reportable assets of a pool from 5% of a pool’s NAV

to 10%, which multiple commenters specifically addressed and supported.78 As 

discussed above, MFA also requested the Commission align its PSOI with NFA’s 2010 

 77 NFA, at 2. 78 IAA, at 5; MFA, at 4; SIFMA, at 14.
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Schedule of Investments, and increase the reportable asset threshold from 5% to 10%.79 

SIFMA AMG stated that revising the PSOI in this manner would greatly reduce or 

eliminate the burden on CPOs to provide information on pool assets or investments that 

are, “either nominal or so minimal they do not affect the daily risk of a CPO.”80 As an 

alternative to adopting the 2010 Schedule of Investments, SIFMA AMG also would 

support a more holistic analysis by the Commission of the proposed PSOI: rather than

simply doubling the percentage threshold for reportable assets, SIFMA AMG argued that 

the Commission should carefully review the proposed PSOI, weigh the utility of the asset

sub-categories, and eliminate those deemed to be unnecessary or not implicating the 

Commission’s regulatory interests.

81

Upon consideration of the comments, and consistent with the overall PSOI 

analysis above, the Commission is declining to increase the threshold for a pool’s 

reportable assets from 5% to 10% at this time. The Commission has reviewed data from 

past Form CPO-PQR filings, and concludes that, if it were to raise the threshold from 5% 

to 10%, the Commission would lose a material portion of the data that it has been 

receiving regarding pool positions in derivatives and alternative investments. 

Specifically, the Commission reviewed the first level of subcategory data within the 

seven headings of asset classes from the 2019 year-end Form CPO-PQR filings. There 

was a total of 5,574 PSOIs filed, with 1,240 of those filings reporting at least one balance 

 79 MFA, at 4. 80 SIFMA AMG, at 14. 81 SIFMA AMG, at 14 (describing such an analysis as “weighing the difficulty of certain CPOs to provide 

data for the more granular sub-categories compared with the usefulness of such data for the Commission, 

with a focus on categories of assets where the Commission does not have a specific regulatory interest or 

otherwise would have limited use for such detail”). See also IAA, at 5 (questioning the relevance and 

necessity of certain line items in the proposed PSOI); MFA, at 6-14 (providing line edits to the proposed 

PSOI, and recommending the deletion of multiple asset classes).
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that was between 5% and 10% of NAV, which means that 22% of the total filed PSOIs

reported an asset balance that would be lost to the Commission, if the Commission 

increased the reporting threshold to 10%. 

Looking at the data further, the Commission found that, of those 1,240 PSOIs

reporting at least one asset between 5 and 10% of a pool’s NAV, 660 of them reported

balances in either alternative investments or derivatives -- asset classes in which the 

Commission retains a significant regulatory interest. Those 660 PSOIs constitute 53% of 

all PSOIs reporting an asset as 5-10% of the pool’s NAV, and amount to approximately 

12% of the total PSOI population. Losing data on 12% of its total PSOI filings by 

reporting CPOs regarding alternative investment or derivatives positions, which are the 

primary focus of the Commission’s jurisdiction, is a material loss, because it would 

provide the Commission with an incomplete picture of the actual holdings of a pool in 

markets subject to the Commission’s oversight, which could undermine the 

Commission’s assessment of the market risk posed by CPOs and their operated pools.

82

This is of particular importance to the Commission given the recent unprecedented 

market conditions discussed above. Accordingly, the Revised Form adopted herein 

retains the 5% asset reporting threshold, and the Commission reiterates its direction to 

Commission staff to evaluate the ongoing utility of the PSOI information in the Revised 

Form, within 18-24 months of the Compliance Date for the Final Rule.

E. Adding LEI Fields to the Revised Form

 82 In concluding that losing Form CPO-PQR data for 22% of its total filing population was material, staff 

was guided by the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin 99, which addresses accounting materiality thresholds. 

Materiality, SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 99, 64 FR 45150 (Aug. 19, 1999), available at

https://www.sec.gov/interps/account/sab99.htm. 
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The Commission also proposed adding fields to the Revised Form requesting

LEIs for reporting CPOs and their operated pools that are otherwise required to have 

them, due to their activity in the swaps market.

83 The Commission emphasized in the 

Proposal, “the inclusion of existing LEIs within the smaller dataset on Revised Form 

CPO-PQR should enable the Commission to more efficiently and accurately synthesize 

the various Commission data streams on an entity-by-entity basis... [and] may permit 

better use of ... other data to illuminate the risk inherent in pools and pool families.”84 

Specifically, the NPRM queried, “Should the Commission include LEIs on Revised Form 

CPO-PQR? Why or why not?”85

Commenters supported the inclusion of LEIs because of their low cost, ability to 

facilitate standardization across multiple data streams and generally enhance reporting,

and “their risk management capabilities.”86 SIFMA AMG also supported the addition of 

questions on LEIs, stating that it understood that “[requiring LEIs in the Revised Form

CPO-PQR] is the key to integrating the information collected in multiple data streams,” 

and would make information collected by the Revised Form “much easier to combine 

into a holistic surveillance program” for registered CPOs and their operated pools.87 

Citing a list of benefits associated with LEIs, GLEIF and DTCC advocated for further 

 83 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26378. 84 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26383 (anticipating that “the inclusion of LEIs would greatly facilitate 

the aggregation of data from commodity pools under different levels of common control”).

85 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26384. 86 DTCC, at 2; SIFMA AMG, at 6; GLEIF, at 1. See also Hunter, at 1, and Barnard, at 1. GLEIF noted 

further that standardizing the LEI requirement would also contribute to the harmonization of rules and 

standards across regulatory regimes. GLEIF, at 2.

87 SIFMA AMG, at 2.
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expanding the LEI requirement to all reporting CPOs and pools, instead of only requiring 

them from entities that currently have them.88

GLEIF also requested the Commission consider two specific recommendations 

regarding LEIs: (1) adopting a requirement that only LEIs that are maintained and duly 

renewed would satisfy this reporting obligation in the Revised Form; and (2) requiring 

LEIs for all reporting entities submitting the Revised Form, as well as for a reporting 

CPO’s miscellaneous service providers, like a third-party administrator, broker, trading 

manager, and/or custodian.89 DTCC argued that expanding the LEI requirement to cover 

all reporting CPOs and all of their operated pools would allow the Commission to obtain 

a more complete picture of pool activity across all derivatives transactions, rather than 

just with respect to swaps.90 DTCC also provided specific cost estimates for LEI 

acquisition, renewal, and maintenance, positing that these costs would not be a significant 

burden on CPOs. Moreover, DTCC argued that expanding the requirement could instead

ease CPOs’ reporting burden, “through the standardization of a common identifier,” i.e., 

an LEI for each reporting entity and each operated pool, and further facilitate the

synthesis of CPO and pool data.

91

MFA suggested that the Commission collect LEI data separately from the Revised 

Form for purposes of protecting highly confidential information in these filings from 

 88 GLEIF, at 1 (stating that the Proposal’s current LEI requirement would not allow the Commission to 

aggregate all derivatives transactions by pools under common control); DTCC, at 2.

89 GLEIF, at 1. 

90 DTCC, at 2. 

91 DTCC, at 2-3 (discussing the average costs associated with obtaining and maintaining an LEI: average 

cost for an LEI is $111, and the renewal fee is $91; the annual one-time cost for all CPOs without an LEI 

would total $64,828; the annual renewal fee combined for all 1326 registered CPOs would total $120,666). 

Neither DTCC nor GLEIF provided any cost estimates with respect to expanding the LEI requirement to all 

operated pools or to all of a reporting CPO’s service providers. 
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potential cyber breaches.92 Specifically, MFA recommended that the Commission 

incorporate alphanumeric identifiers to conceal the identities of reporting CPOs in the 

Revised Form, and that the Commission separate this data to mitigate potential breaches 

and enhance protections for collected registrant data.93 According to MFA, registered 

CPOs should be permitted to file their LEIs for the Revised Form in a separate 

submission, such that the LEIs and identifying information of the CPO and its pools are 

separated from the confidential information the Revised Form otherwise collects.

94 

The Commission is adopting this provision as proposed. The LEI fields included 

in the Revised Form should provide significant regulatory benefits, particularly with 

respect to the Commission’s stated goal of developing a holistic surveillance program for 

registered CPOs and their operated pools.95 At this time, the Commission will not 

require CPOs that do not currently have LEIs to obtain them solely for the purposes of 

reporting on the Revised Form.96 The Commission’s regulations currently only require 

entities to obtain LEIs if they are engaged in swaps transactions. Specifically, the 

Commission’s regulations regarding swap data reporting, which were amended in 

September 2020, require CPOs or commodity pools that are counterparties to swaps to 

use LEIs in all swap data recordkeeping and reporting.97 The Commission would

therefore expect that any CPO or commodity pool entering into swap transactions would 

have an LEI. Conversely, if a reporting CPO and its pools do not engage in swap 

transactions, they would not be required to have LEIs. Moreover, futures market 

 92 MFA, at 3. 

93 MFA, at 3. 

94 Id.

95 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, at 26382. 96 See infra Form CPO-PQR, “Reporting Instructions,” no. 9. 97 Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements, 85 FR ___ (Sept. ___, 2020).
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participants are not required to have LEIs generally, and as such, LEIs are not collected 

by the designated contract markets or derivatives clearing organizations with respect to 

futures transactions. Therefore, imposing such a requirement on reporting CPOs and 

their pools that do not engage in swaps would not assist the Commission in utilizing the 

other data streams available to it regarding futures trading activity. 

Additionally, allowing only those LEIs that are maintained and duly renewed to 

satisfy the reporting requirement in the Revised Form runs counter to the Commission’s 

stated purpose of the Revised Form. Currently, swap dealers and other registered 

entities98 are the only Commission registrants required to maintain and renew their 

LEIs.99 Notably, CPOs and their operated pools are not among those 

entities. Additionally, because CPOs and their operated pools are not required to obtain, 

maintain, or renew LEIs to participate in the futures market, the Commission believes 

that imposing such a requirement solely for Form CPO-PQR reporting purposes would 

not, at this time, advance the Commission’s goal of monitoring CPOs and their operated 

pools for market and systemic risk.

The Commission notes that this approach to LEIs in the Final Rule does not 

preclude expanding the LEI requirement in the Revised Form in the future. As noted 

herein, and in the Proposal, the Final Rule is intended to leverage the other data 

developed by the Commission as they currently exist. The Commission currently does 

not require LEIs to participate in the commodity interest markets beyond the swaps 

 98 17 CFR 1.3, “registered entity” (including, inter alia, designated contract markets, swap execution 

facilities, derivatives clearing organizations, and swap data repositories, in the “registered entity” 

definition).

99 Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements, ____85 _____ (Sept. __, 2020).
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market; however, in the future, the LEI requirement could be expanded to other 

commodity interest asset classes. If that should happen, reporting CPOs and their pools 

would be required to report those LEIs on the Revised Form as well. As LEIs become 

more ubiquitous in the market, and as more CPOs obtain and use them in operating their 

pools, the Commission anticipates that there will be a corresponding increase of reported 

LEIs on the Revised Form. 

With respect to commenters’ concerns about cybersecurity, determining the 

feasibility of filing LEI information separately from the Revised Form would hinder the 

Commission’s ability to adopt the Final Rule in a timely manner. The Commission 

believes that such delay serves neither its own regulatory interests nor the interests of 

Commission registrants required to file Form CPO-PQR. In arriving at this conclusion, 

the Commission weighed the benefits of adopting Revised Form CPO-PQR sooner, 

including the opportunity to begin fully incorporating the Revised Form’s dataset into the 

Commission’s oversight program for registered CPOs and their operated pools, as well as 

operational efficiencies for the Revised Form’s filers, against whether the Commission 

should modify how data on the Revised Form is collected. That analysis also included an 

assessment of the state of the Commission’s current data security protocols. 

With respect to the Commission’s data security protocols, it is currently in full 

compliance with all of the relevant statutes relating to information security and 

protection.100 The Commission’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits the agency’s 

security program annually, and as of the 2019 audit, OIG identified no material 

 100 See, e.g., the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, 44 U.S.C 3551, et. seq., (Dec. 

18, 2014).
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weaknesses and made no significant findings. Moreover, the OIG rated the 

Commission’s security program as “effective.”101 In addition to the OIG review, the U.S. 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also assesses the Commission on a semiannual 

basis, and DHS’ most recent assessment of the CFTC’s security program for compliance 

with the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), as required by the Office of Management and 

Budget, resulted in ratings of “managed and measurable” in all five functions of the 

CSF.102 

In the Commission’s opinion, delaying the adoption of the Final Rule and of 

Revised Form CPO-PQR, specifically in order to separately collect a filing CPO’s LEIs, 

would lead to an undesirable regulatory outcome. This approach would delay the 

adoption of Revised Form CPO-PQR significantly, if not indefinitely, thereby depriving 

filing CPOs of much-anticipated compliance relief, for the purpose of addressing 

arguably unwarranted (given the recent objective and favorable evaluations of this 

agency’s information security and data protection protocols cited above) data security 

concerns only applicable to a limited portion of the Form CPO-PQR filing population. 

 101 “Office of the Inspector General Semiannual Report to Congress: October 1, 2019-March 31, 2020,” 

CFTC Office of the Inspector General, p. 8 (Mar. 31, 2020), available at 

https://www.cftc.gov/media/3946/oig_reporttocongress033120/download.

102 “Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 Annual Report to Congress: Fiscal Year 

2019,” Office of Management and Budget (DATE?!). Although DHS has not yet published the Fiscal Year 

2019 report to its website, the Commission notes that it received similar ratings in fiscal year 2018. See

“Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 Annual Report to Congress: Fiscal Year 2018,” 

Office of Management and Budget, p. 49 (Aug. 23, 2019), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2019/08/FISMA-2018-Report-FINAL-to-post.pdf. The CSF, developed by the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology, includes five function areas: “Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, 

and Recover.” Id. at 17. A finding of “managed and measurable,” is the fourth highest of five levels and 

means, “[q]uantitative and qualitative measures on the effectiveness of policies, procedures, and strategies 

are collected across the organization and used to assess them and make necessary changes.” Id. at 31. Per 

the IG Reporting Metrics, a finding of “managed and measurable” “is considered to be effective at the 

domain, function, and overall level[s].” Id. at 32.
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The Commission finds that the outcome of this approach would undermine and run 

counter to the Commission’s stated purposes in the Proposal, i.e., revising Form CPOPQR in a way that supports the Commission’s ability to exercise its oversight of CPOs 

and their operated pools, while reducing reporting burdens for market participants.103 

Taking all of this into account, the Commission concludes that adopting Revised Form 

CPO-PQR at this time, absent any significant information as to how the information, 

including LEIs, is submitted, is appropriate. In conjunction with Commission staff’s 

review of the Revised Form’s PSOI within 18-24 months of this Final Rule’s Compliance 

Date, the Commission further directs its staff to determine the feasibility, necessity, and 

advisability of separating a CPO’s LEIs from the rest of Revised Form CPO-PQR in that 

same time frame. Lastly, the Commission remains committed to devoting significant 

resources to ensure its internal data security procedures are aligned with, or surpass, 

industry best practices, as they develop over time. 

F. The Revised Form’s Definitions, Instructions, and Questions

As discussed above, the Commission also proposed several amendments to the 

Instructions of the Revised Form.

104 For instance, the Commission proposed to require 

all reporting CPOs to file the Revised Form quarterly by redefining “Reporting Period,” 

to mean a calendar quarter.

105 Additionally, the Commission proposed significant 

changes to Instructions 2 and 3, in connection with deleting Form CPO-PQR’s Schedules 

B and C, as well as the elimination of terms related to the various thresholds used for 

 103 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26380.

104 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26378. 105 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26396.
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those schedules, i.e., Mid-Sized CPO, Large CPO, and Large Pool.106 The Commission 

further queried in the Proposal: “Are there ways the Commission could further clarify 

and refine the reporting instructions for completing Revised Form CPO-PQR in order to 

provide CPOs with greater certainty that they are completing the form correctly?”107

i. Quarterly Filing Schedule for All CPOs Completing the Revised 

Form 

The simplified, uniform, quarterly filing schedule proposed for the Revised Form 

with respect to all reporting CPOs and their operated pools received broad support from 

commenters. NFA generally expressed strong support for the Commission’s efforts to 

streamline and simplify the reporting regime for reporting CPOs, including the quarterly 

filing schedule, and stated its belief that, “the proposal will satisfy the Commission’s goal 

of reducing reporting requirements in a manner that continues to facilitate effective 

oversight of CPOs and the pools that they operate.”108 SIFMA AMG also expressed its 

support to increase the filing frequency of the Revised Form for all reporting CPOs 

because of the simplified filing schedule across all CPOs, regardless of size, and the 

consistency in filing schedules between the Revised Form and NFA Form PQR.109 

In adopting the changes as proposed, the Commission still favors employing a 

simpler, more uniform filing requirement for all reporting CPOs. This straightforward

filing structure and schedule should facilitate compliance and reporting under 

Commission regulation 4.27, thereby enhancing the efficacy of the Commission’s 

oversight of reporting CPOs and their operated pools. 

 106 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26391. 107 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26384. 108 NFA, at 1.

109 SIFMA AMG, at 4.
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ii. Instructions 3 and 5

Instruction 3 on Form CPO-PQR was carried over, in relevant part, to the 

Proposal’s Revised Form and states: “The CPO May Be Required to Aggregate 

Information Concerning Certain Types of Pools. For the parts of Form CPO-PQR that 

request information about individual Pools, you must report aggregate information for 

Parallel Managed Accounts and Master Feeder Arrangements as if each were an 

individual Pool, but not Parallel Pools. Assets held in Parallel Managed Accounts should 

be treated as assets of the Pools with which they are aggregated.”110 Paragraphs in 

Instruction 3 of the existing form describing how to determine if a CPO is a Mid-Sized or 

Large CPO required to complete Schedules B or C, or if a pool is a Large Pool for 

purposes of completing Schedule C, were proposed to be deleted from the Revised 

Form.111 In the Proposal, the Commission also retained Instruction 5, which read as 

follows: “I am required to aggregate funds or accounts to determine whether I meet a 

reporting threshold, or I am electing to aggregate funds for reporting purposes. How do I 

‘aggregate’ funds or accounts for these purposes?”112 Instruction 5 then provided

substantive examples on how to aggregate funds as if they were one pool with respect to 

parallel managed accounts (PMAs) and/or Master-Feeder Arrangements.113

NFA responded to the Commission’s question on additional clarifications to the 

Revised Form’s instructions, stating that, if the Revised Form is adopted as proposed, the 

reporting requirements for CPOs will no longer be dependent on reporting thresholds,

 110 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26391 (proposing Instruction 3 of the Revised Form). 111 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26391. 112 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26392 (proposing Instruction 5 of the Revised Form). 113 Id.
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and therefore, a detailed instruction on PMAs is not necessary.114 NFA recommended 

accordingly that the Commission “consider whether these instructions and the related 

definitional terms should be eliminated.”115 SIFMA AMG also stated that the purpose of 

aggregating pool assets would no longer be relevant under the Revised Form, and it 

would be unclear what these instructions mean under the Revised Form, absent those 

reporting thresholds.

116 Therefore, SIFMA AMG also requested the Commission remove 

Instructions 3 and 5 related to PMAs, given the proposed deletion of Schedules B and C 

and the associated thresholds for CPOs and pools. SIFMA AMG, like NFA, believed 

that the concept of PMAs and pool asset aggregation, as a whole, is no longer relevant to

completing the Revised Form.117 SIFMA AMG also recommended the Commission 

revise the Revised Form further to permit the filing of Master-Feeder Arrangements as 

one pool, rather than requiring each fund to report separately.118 Finally, SIFMA AMG 

suggested the Commission adopt the approach taken in Joint Form PF with respect to 

Master-Feeder Arrangements, specifically in Joint Form PF Instruction 5.119

The Commission generally agrees with commenters with respect to PMAs and the 

remaining references to reporting thresholds in the proposed Revised Form. 

Consequently, the Commission believes that much of the language in these instructions 

should be deleted for internal consistency in the Revised Form. Therefore, the 

 114 NFA, at 3. 115 Id. 116 SIFMA AMG, at 8-9 (stating its belief that these instructions were borrowed from Joint Form PF and 

the main function of this instruction is to aggregate pool assets of a CPO, for the purpose of determining 

whether a firm is a Large, Mid-Sized, or Small CPO, and whether a pool is a Large Pool). 117 Id. 118 Id. at 9. 

119 SIFMA AMG, at 11-13 (explaining further that, “[t]o align with the Commission’s proposal to require 

pool LEIs on the CPO-PQR, we are suggesting that should a single filing be permitted for Master-Feeder 

Arrangements, a CPO should provide the LEI of a Master Fund”). 
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Commission is revising Instruction 3 to remove all references to PMAs and Parallel 

Pools, focusing solely on reporting information concerning pools in a Master-Feeder 

Arrangement. Thus, Instruction 3 in the Revised Form only addresses how MasterFeeder Arrangements should be reported.120 

With respect to the treatment of Master-Feeder Arrangements under the Revised 

Form, commenters raise an interesting question as to the proper requirements to impose 

on structures meeting the form’s definition of a Master-Feeder Arrangement. 

Specifically, the form provides that a Master-Feeder Arrangement is “an arrangement in 

which one or more funds (“Feeder Funds”) invest all or substantially all of their assets in 

a single fund (“Master Fund”).”121 This definition encompasses many variations of fund 

complexes from funds with wholly owned subsidiaries, to funds with multiple levels of 

intermediary funds between the feeder and master funds, to the more traditional 

structures where two or more feeder funds invest substantially all of their assets into a 

commonly owned master fund. The Commission believes that to adequately consider the 

propriety of permitting all such fund structures to consolidate their filings on the Revised 

Form, additional analysis is required to determine the appropriate parameters to impose 

on such relief. Therefore, the Commission declines to change the reporting approach for 

Master-Feeder Arrangements at this time and instead, instructs staff to engage in such an 

analysis to determine what modifications may be needed to provide for consolidated 

reporting where appropriate. 

 120 See infra Revised Form CPO-PQR, “Reporting Instructions,” no. 3. 121 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, Definitions of Terms, “Master-Feeder Arragement.”
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Upon consideration of the comments, the Commission is deleting Instruction 5 in 

its entirety because this instruction was originally included to explain how a reporting 

CPO should determine if it is a Large, Mid-Sized, or Small CPO, and what the resulting 

scope of its filing should be, i.e., whether Schedules B or C (or both) were required. 

Accordingly, because Instruction 5 is no longer applicable, the Commission has removed

it from the Revised Form.

iii. Instruction 4

The Proposal also retained Instruction 4, which provided the following: “I advise 

a Pool that invests in other Pools or funds (e.g., a “fund of funds”). How should I treat 

these investments for purposes of Form CPO-PQR?”122 The Instruction states, in 

pertinent part, that “[f]or purposes of this Form CPO-PQR, you may disregard any Pool’s 

equity investments in other Pools.”123 NFA requested that the Commission “consider 

eliminating the guidance in Instruction 4 regarding the ‘investments in other Pools 

generally’ heading” because that guidance allows a CPO to disregard a pool’s equity 

investments in other pools, and NFA would like these assets included.124 This reporting 

helps NFA “identify pool assets that may also be reported by another pool or fund.”125 

However, IAA disagreed “with any recommendation to eliminate Instruction 4,” because 

IAA would consider that “a significant change in how CPOs currently report on the 

 122 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26391-92 (proposing to retain Instruction 4 in the Revised Form). 123 Id. 124 NFA, at 3. 125 Id. (emphasizing that NFA would like to see these “other pool investments” reflected in multiple 

answers in the Revised Form, in particular to Questions 2 and 8 on assets under management, Question 9 

for the calculation of monthly rates of return, and the PSOI in Question 11 on investments in other funds). 
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form.”126 Consequently, IAA stated that this particular change should be considered, if at 

all, “as part of a formal rulemaking, with notice and comment.”127

Instruction 4, in the original form, was generally intended to provide clear 

instruction that investments in other pools should not be included in a specific reporting 

CPO’s or operated pool’s applicable reporting threshold. For example, a pool’s fund-offunds investments, in which the reporting CPO may have little to no control over the 

management or performance of those assets, should not cause a pool to be considered a 

“Large Pool,” which would require additional, highly detailed reporting with respect to 

that pool. Similarly, a reporting CPO should not also have been categorized as a Large or 

Mid-Sized CPO, with consequences to the scope and breadth of their filings, solely due to 

the fact that its aggregated pool AUM included investments in other pools that it does not 

operate. 

Although NFA presents a compelling argument regarding its anticipated use of 

information regarding pools’ investments in other pools, the Commission has determined 

to continue to provide CPOs with the discretion to include or exclude such investments, 

provided that their treatment is consistent throughout the Revised Form. The 

Commission understands from the IAA that this would be a significant change in how 

CPO’s of pools that invest in other pools engage with the form and could be quite 

burdensome as CPOs may be reporting such information for the first time. Moreover, the 

Commission believes that retaining the obligation to include such investments in the 

reported pool’s AUM and NAV (Question 8 of the Revised Form), as well as requiring 

 126 IAA, at 6, n.28. 127 IAA, at 6. 
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the investments to be enumerated in the PSOI, as discussed below, provides adequate 

information about a pool’s investments in other pools for the Commission to oversee 

their activities while the Commission continues to develop its abilities to integrate its data 

regarding CPOs and their operated pools. Therefore, consistent with Instruction 4 as 

originally adopted, the Commission will continue to require that such investments be 

included in the reporting CPO’s response to Question 10 in the current form, which 

solicits information regarding the pool’s statement of changes concerning AUM, and 

which has been redesignated as Question 8 in the Revised Form, as well as in the PSOI in 

the Revised Form, but will not otherwise require a CPO to include a pool’s investments 

in other pools in its responses to the Revised Form. 

The Final Rule’s revisions to Instruction 4 also require the reporting CPO to 

include such investments in other pools in the PSOI. In the Proposal, the Commission 

amended the form by removing detailed pool information set out in Schedules B and C, 

but retained the PSOI, which has now become the only section on Form CPO-PQR that 

provides detailed pool investment information. In the original form, the PSOI 

supplemented the rest of the information provided; going forward, with the amendments 

to the form removing Schedules B and C, the PSOI’s value and status has changed, as it 

is now the key collection of information through which the Commission can analyze the 

market activities and risks of CPOs and their operated pools. Therefore, due to the 

change of importance and status of the PSOI, along with its plain language, which 

includes line items for various classes of funds, such as mutual funds, private funds, and 

money market funds, reporting CPOs must disclose their pools’ investments in other 

funds as part of the PSOI. The Commission further believes that requiring these 
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investments to be listed in the PSOI is necessary for it to make full use of the information 

provided on Question 8 in the Revised Form, for which such investments must also be 

included. Without this detail in the PSOI, it would be very difficult to determine the asset 

classes influencing the movement in a pool’s AUM and NAV from one reporting period 

to the next. Therefore, the Revised Form retains the current general treatment of 

investments in other pools currently set forth in Instruction 4, with the additional 

clarification that they are included in the PSOI. 

With respect to pools that invest substantially all of their assets in other pools, 

their investments in other pools were required to be included in the reporting CPO’s 

responses to Schedule A of Form CPO-PQR. Because under the Revised Form, Schedule 

A comprises the entirety of the Revised Form, with the exception of the addition of the 

PSOI, the Commission is revising Instruction 4 to provide that such other pool

investments must be reported on in the Revised Form. 

iv. Definition of “Broker”

Like the original iteration of the form, the Proposal defined “broker” as, “any 

entity that provides clearing, prime brokerage, or similar services to the Pool.”128 IAA 

recommended that the Commission clarify whether a “broker” in the Revised Form refers 

to only commodity-related brokers, or includes non-commodity brokers.129 IAA further 

explained that CPOs may have many relationships with executing brokers for noncommodity interest transactions, and absent a clarification of this definition, this prompt

would constitute a substantial burden for CPOs to include all brokers in the Revised 

 128 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26394. 

129 IAA, at 5. 
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Form.130 Finally, IAA queried what regulatory interest or benefit the Commission would 

gain from a broad definition of “broker,” and concluded that, “we do not believe this 

information is necessary to implement [Revised] Form CPO-PQR or to assist the CFTC 

in its oversight of the commodities markets.”131 ICI also supported clarifying the 

“broker” definition in this manner, and limiting the responses to the Revised Form “to 

brokers that a CPO uses with respect to commodity interest transactions,” because, ICI 

explained, such an approach would be consistent with the Proposal’s stated purpose of 

refining reporting, “in order to better monitor the commodity interest markets.”132

The Commission has consistently understood the term “broker,” in the context of 

Form CPO-PQR, to include more than just those service providers engaging in the 

commodity interest markets,

133 and has not limited the definition of the term “broker,” as 

used either in the current form or the Revised Form, in any manner. Moreover, Form 

CPO-PQR, as a general matter, has consistently requested information on all enumerated 

service providers used by a reporting CPO for its operated pool(s), regardless of the asset 

class or markets involved.

134 Consistent with this position, which is supported by the 

plain meaning of the Form CPO-PQR’s definition of “broker,” reporting CPOs currently 

filing the form should identify any broker used in any transactions for any pool not 

operated pursuant to an exemption or exclusion during the reporting period. This is also 

 130 Id. (stating that large numbers of non-commodity interest transactions and differences in brokerage firm 

names could make answering this question completely particularly difficult for CPOs that have hundreds of 

relationships with approved brokers for their non-commodity interest trading). 131 IAA, at 6. IAA further stated its expectation that, should the Commission clarify the “broker” definition 

to refer only to brokers involved in commodity interest transactions, then NFA would likewise adopt an 

identical interpretation for NFA Form PQR. Id. 132 ICI, at 5. 133 See 17 CFR pt. 4, app. A, “Definition of Terms,” “broker” (defining “broker” as “an entity that provides 

clearing, prime brokerage or similar services to the Pool”).

134 See, e.g., 2015 CPO-PQR FAQs, in which Commission staff further echoed this broad understanding of 

“broker” in its discussion of pool custodians, marketers, and underwriters.
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consistent with other aspects of the form and the Revised Form, e.g., the PSOI, which are 

not limited to collecting data solely on the commodity interest transactions of a reporting 

CPO and its operated pools. 

The Commission notes elsewhere in this release that the trading activity or 

investments of pools in asset classes other than commodity interests may impact the 

viability of that pool and/or the overall operations of its CPO.

135 This fact has been

highlighted by the recent unprecedented market movements and difficulties resulting 

from the Covid-19 pandemic and its broad negative effects on the U.S. and global 

economies. Therefore, the Commission finds that collecting data on CPO and pool 

activity outside of commodity interests is also of general regulatory interest and concern 

to the Commission with respect to its effective oversight of CPOs and their operated 

pools. The Commission has concluded that limiting the brokers reported solely to those 

used in connection with commodity interest transactions would not be conducive to its 

effective oversight, would be a significant departure from its clear past positions and 

interpretations of the form, and further, would result in internal inconsistency in the 

Revised Form, where some aspects of the data collection would be limited to commodity 

interests, whereas others would not. Therefore, after considering the comments, the 

Commission is not changing the scope of the definition of the term “brokers,” and 

confirms, in the context of the Revised Form as adopted, that the term is not limited to 

those brokers used in connection with commodity interest transactions. 

 135 See supra II.C.
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v. Elimination of Questions Regarding Auditors and Marketers

The Proposal also would remove questions regarding a CPO’s auditors and 

marketers employed for its operated pools because the Commission and NFA have access 

to this information through other regulatory sources, “which the Commission 

preliminarily believes obviates the need for obtaining this information through Revised 

Form CPO-PQR.”136 SIFMA AMG specifically supported the removal of these 

questions, stating this proposed deletion is especially appropriate where the information 

is already required elsewhere by other regulations or filings, and is therefore, easily 

accessible to the CFTC and NFA.137 With respect to questions regarding a CPO’s 

auditors or marketers, the Commission is adopting the Revised Form as proposed, 

omitting those questions, for the reasons articulated in the Proposal.

vi. FAQs and Glossary

The Revised Form includes a list of “Defined Terms,” which was entitled

“Definitions of Terms” in its prior iteration. In 2015, Commission staff published 

responses to frequently asked questions (the 2015 CPO-PQR FAQs, or FAQs) providing 

detailed answers to questions from CPOs attempting to complete Form CPO-PQR.

138 

SIFMA AMG requested that the Commission align the 2015 CPO-PQR FAQs with the 

Revised Form, such that these items can be clarified and updated for completeness and 

accuracy.

139 IAA recommended that the Commission improve the clarity of the FAQs by 

 136 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26383. 137 SIFMA AMG, at 7. 138 2015 CPO-PQR FAQs.

139 SIFMA AMG, at 17 (recommending further the creation of a centralized “Glossary of Terms” for use by 

filers of the Revised Form and/or NFA Form PQR). Currently, SIFMA AMG states that some definitions 

may be found in NFA Form PQR, while others are solely in the Revised Form, and still other definitions or 

information solely published in the FAQs. SIFMA AMG would like to see this information centralized and 

easily accessible for CPOs filing the Revised Form. Id. 
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removing language that would not apply to the Revised Form, specifically referencing 

PMAs, parallel pool structures, and aggregating funds for reporting threshold 

purposes.

140 MFA suggested the Commission amend the instructions in the Revised 

Form to “incorporate relevant, substantive FAQs into the instructions of Form CPOPQR.”141 Furthermore, SIFMA AMG requested an additional change to the FAQs to 

create a complete Glossary of Terms for use by filers of the Revised Form.142 

The Commission understands commenters’ concerns that the form will be 

significantly revised by the Final Rule, resulting in large portions of the 2015 CPO-PQR 

FAQs becoming obsolete or inaccurate, absent commensurate revisions. Therefore, 

while reviewing comments and developing the Revised Form for the Commission’s 

consideration, Commission staff has also reviewed the 2015 CPO-PQR FAQs in light of 

the revisions adopted herein. The Commission expects staff to complete this review and 

to publish updated FAQs regarding the Revised Form, as soon as practicable, following 

the adoption of the Final Rule. 

The Commission is making some technical changes to regulatory citations and 

cross-references in the Revised Form, and further clarifying its definitions and 

instructions to facilitate the completion of the Revised Form. The technical clarifications

include revising the definition of “GAAP” in the Revised Form to reflect the ability of 

reporting CPOs to use certain “alternative accounting principles, standards, or practices” 

currently permitted under Commission regulation 4.27(c)(2), which is redesignated 

 140 IAA, at 6. 141 MFA, at 3. MFA stated that otherwise, Commission staff would need to separately issue FAQs with 

respect to the adopted Revised Form to replace the existing 2015 CPO-PQR FAQs, which MFA views as 

less effective than centralizing and incorporating FAQs and instruction examples in the Revised Form. Id.

at 4.

142 SIFMA AMG, at 17. 
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herein as Commission regulation 4.27(c)(4). The Commission is also reorganizing the 

Revised Form, so that the Defined Terms precede the Instructions to the Revised Form to 

facilitate the understanding of reporting CPOs.

G. Substituted Compliance

The Proposal also included amendments to Commission regulation 4.27 that 

would allow CPOs to file NFA Form PQR in lieu of filing the Revised Form with the 

Commission,

143 and eliminate the ability of dually registered CPO-investment advisers 

filing Joint Form PF to file such form in lieu of the Revised Form.144

i. NFA Form PQR

In general, commenters supported the proposed amendment permitting CPOs to 

file NFA Form PQR in lieu of the Revised Form for the purpose of improving filing 

efficiencies.145 IAA commended the Commission “for offering CPOs additional filing 

efficiencies without compromising the Commission’s ability to obtain affected data.”146 

IAA further recommended that the Commission add a specific instruction to the Revised 

Form to reflect this allowing the filing of NFA Form PQR as substituted compliance.147 

IAA stated that by explaining this substituted compliance for NFA Form PQR within the 

Revised Form’s instructions, the Commission would “assist CPOs that frequently review 

the instructions for the form in addition to or instead of the text of the rule to ensure the 

 143 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26378. 144 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26378 (citing the lack of similarities between Joint Form PF and the 

Proposal’s Revised Form). 

145 Barnard, at 1-2; Hunter, at 1; IAA, at 4. 146 IAA, at 4. 147 IAA, at 6 (requesting that “the instruction state that a CPO ‘required to file NFA Form PQR with the 

NFA for the reporting period may make the NFA filing in lieu of the Form CPO-PQR report required under 

Rule 4.27(c)”). 
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filing is accurate and complete.”148 Additionally, as noted with respect to the proposed 

uniform, quarterly filing schedule above, SIFMA AMG expressed its strong support for a 

single filing schedule across the Revised Form and NFA Form PQR, as well as for the 

adoption of substituted compliance with respect to NFA Form PQR.149 

The Commission has determined that, upon NFA’s inclusion of questions eliciting 

LEIs, NFA Form PQR will be substantively consistent with Form CPO-PQR, as revised 

herein. The Commission recognizes, however, that absent a condition requiring NFA 

Form PQR to be substantively consistent with Form CPO-PQR on an ongoing basis, it is 

possible for the two forms to diverge over time while still being eligible for substituted 

compliance, and that this could undermine the Commission’s collection of vital 

information regarding reporting CPOs and their operated pools. Therefore, the 

Commission will review any proposed changes to NFA Form PQR consistent with the 

procedure set forth in CEA section 17(j).

150 This will ensure the continued alignment of 

the forms. Because any alterations to NFA Form PQR would be accomplished through 

amendments to NFA membership rules, which are subject to review by Commission staff 

and either notice to, or review by, the Commission, ongoing monitoring of the continued 

substantive consistency of the forms should be easily implemented through this existing 

process.

Therefore, the Commission is adopting the amendments to Commission 

regulation 4.27(c)(2) clearly establishing substituted compliance for the Revised Form 

with respect to NFA Form PQR. Finally, upon consideration of the comments, the 

 148 IAA, at 6.

149 SIFMA AMG, at 15-16. 150 7 U.S.C. 21(j).
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Commission is adding a new Instruction 2 in the Revised Form that explicitly states, “[t]o 

the extent a CPO has timely filed the National Futures Association’s Form PQR, such 

filing shall be deemed to satisfy this Form CPO-PQR.”151 

ii. Joint Form PF

The decision to rescind substituted compliance with respect to Joint Form PF 

elicited differing opinions from commenters. For instance, NFA did not support the

alternative of filing all or part of Joint Form PF, in lieu of the Revised Form, because 

Joint Form PF is at least as burdensome as the Commission’s form, and further, it 

includes “significantly more information than NFA needs.”152 ICI also disagreed with 

replacing the form with all or part of Joint Form PF because that would impose additional 

burdens on dually registered CPOs, who are not currently required to file Joint Form PF 

for their registered funds, and therefore, would be required to adapt their current systems 

and processes to Joint Form PF.

153

Conversely, AIMA requested that the Commission and NFA allow dually

registered CPOs to file Joint Form PF in satisfaction of the reporting obligations in 

Commission regulation 4.27 and NFA Compliance Rule 2-46, because this approach 

would reduce the reporting burden, “while still assuring NFA has the necessary 

 151 See infra Revised Form CPO-PQR, “Reporting Instructions,” no. 2. 152 NFA, at 2 (stating there is no need to ensure similar reporting obligations between the SEC and CFTC, 

where “the Commission believes it will have sufficient tools with [the Revised Form] and other data 

streams to effectively oversee registered CPOs and the commodity interest markets”). NFA noted further 

that, even if the CFTC were to rescind Form CPO-PQR in favor of Joint Form PF, NFA would still require 

its CPO Members to file NFA Form PQR, “which is tailored to NFA’s needs and is not a significant burden 

on Members to complete.” Id. 153 ICI, at 5 (agreeing that “the proposed changes to Form CPO-PQR, relative to the alternatives, would 

permit the Commission to discharge its regulatory duties with respect to CPOs and their operated pools that 

might have the greatest impact on market and systemic risk, while easing reporting obligations on a 

significant number of CPOs”).
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information from a supervisory perspective.”154 Rather than eliminate Commission 

regulation 4.27(d) entirely, SIFMA AMG requested that the Commission preserve 

substituted compliance with respect to Joint Form PF on a voluntary basis because some 

of its members believe there would be efficiencies in allowing Joint Form PF to be filed 

for both private fund and non-private fund pools.155 

The Commission specifically asked in the Proposal, “For CPOs [dually-registered

with the CFTC and the SEC], if Form CPO-PQR is amended as proposed, would you 

cease reporting data for these pools on [Joint] Form PF?”156 AIMA responded that these 

CPOs are likely to continue including them rather than incurring the costs of a separate 

filing obligation, if “the inclusion of such non-private fund pools on Form PF can be 

treated as satisfaction of separate Form CPO-PQR and NFA Form PQR filing 

obligations, and those pools have been included in the Form PF previously.”157 ICI 

argued that, although adopting the Proposal may mean less data with respect to 

commodity pools would be reported on Joint Form PF, that prospect, in general, should 

not be the driving factor in this policy decision – rather, the Commission should focus on 

whether the Revised Form elicits the information it needs and will use in pursuit of its 

regulatory mission with respect to CPOs and their pools.158 SIFMA AMG noted, 

however, that it generally supports the elimination of detailed reporting requirements for 

 154 AIMA, at 2. 155 SIFMA AMG, at 16. 156 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26384. 157 AIMA, at 2 (noting that if the Commission decides against allowing Joint Form PF as substituted 

compliance for Commission regulation 4.27, “it is likely that non-private fund commodity pools will no 

longer be included in Form PF to reduce the filing burden as far as possible”). 

158 ICI, at 5-6.
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CPOs, and it does not believe there would be regulatory harm, if information is no longer 

being provided on Joint Form PF with respect to non-private fund pools.159

After considering the comments received, the Commission is adopting the 

amendments to Commission regulation 4.27, eliminating the substituted compliance for a 

dually registered CPO-investment adviser completing Joint Form PF in lieu of the 

Revised Form, as proposed for the reasons stated in the Proposal.

160 The original 

Commission regulation 4.27(d), which provided that substituted compliance mechanism 

with respect to Joint Form PF, is no longer appropriate because: (1) the Revised Form 

will differ from Joint Form PF, both in substance and filing schedule, and (2) continuing 

to accept Joint Form PF in lieu of the Revised Form would frustrate an intended and 

clearly stated purpose of the Proposal, which is to enhance and better coordinate the 

Commission’s own internal data streams to more efficiently and effectively oversee its 

registered, reporting CPOs and their operated pools.

iii. Substituted Compliance for CPOs of Registered Investment Companies

ICI also commented particularly on the burdens imposed by the proposed 

amendments on CPOs of registered investment companies (RICs). Specifically, ICI 

requested that, to eliminate duplicative reporting between the SEC and CFTC regimes 

applicable to the operations of RICs, the Commission consider adopting a substituted 

compliance approach with respect to periodic reporting by CPOs of RICs, similar to its 

2013 rulemaking to harmonize RIC and CPO/pool regulatory requirements.161 Although 

 159 SIFMA AMG, at 16. 160 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26383. 161 ICI, at 2-3, n.6. ICI suggested that the CFTC use the SEC filings and reports already filed by CPO/IAs 

of RICs, which require disclosure of LEIs, to glean data on the commodity interest activities of these 
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the Commission noted in the Proposal that RICs are subject to comprehensive regulation 

by the SEC, it did not discuss the possibility of deferring to the SEC with respect to 

collecting information from CPOs of RICs. Under these circumstances, the Commission 

would be unable to address the issue of providing additional substituted compliance to 

CPOs of RICs without re-proposing and reopening the comment period for the NPRM.

162 

Moreover, the Commission believes that the suggested approach by ICI would simply not 

be practical. As explained by ICI, RICs file numerous regulatory filings, 163 each of 

which are designed for a particular purpose by the SEC. Incorporating those filings into 

the Commission’s filing regime via substituted compliance would be difficult to 

accomplish and would require the devotion of significant time and resources by both the 

Commission and NFA. Moreover, none of these filings is a direct analog to the Revised 

Form, which adds to the complexity of any undertaking to create a substituted 

compliance regime with respect to those forms. Finally, the Commission has identified 

limited benefit in providing such relief, if it were possible, because such CPOs would 

remain subject to NFA’s independent reporting requirement. Therefore, the Commission 

declines to provide additional substituted compliance for CPOs of RICs in the 

amendments to Commission regulation 4.27 adopted by the Final Rule. 

H. Compliance Date

MFA requested that the Commission consider providing registered CPOs with six 

months from the adoption of a Final Rule with respect to the Revised Form to permit 

 operators and pools. Id. See also Harmonization of Compliance Obligations for Registered Investment 

Companies Required to Register as Commodity Pool Operators, 78 FR 52308 (Aug. 22, 2013).

162 5 U.S.C. 553(c). 163 ICI, at 2, n.7. These reports include N-PORT and N-CEN and address information about the RIC’s 

portfolio, investment policies and practices, and other information. Id.
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reporting CPOs to make “coding and software changes” to accommodate the Revised 

Form’s requirements.164 The Commission has determined not to require filing of reports 

on the Revised Form for the period ending December 31, 2020. However, to the extent 

reporting CPOs are required to file NFA Form PQR for the period ending December 31, 

2020, that filing must still be submitted in accordance with applicable NFA rules. 

Therefore, reporting CPOs will be required to submit the Revised Form sixty days after 

the first 2021 filing period ends on March 31, 2021, making initial compliance with the 

Revised Form due on May 30, 2021. The Commission has determined that this schedule 

allows for adequate time for CPOs and NFA to prepare their systems and procedures with 

respect to the Revised Form.

III. Related Matters 

A. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires Federal agencies, in promulgating 

regulations, to consider whether the rules they propose will have a significant economic 

impact on a substantial number of small entities and, if so, to provide a regulatory 

flexibility analysis regarding the economic impact on those entities. Each Federal agency 

is required to conduct an initial and final regulatory flexibility analysis for each rule of 

general applicability for which the agency issues a general notice of proposed 

rulemaking.165 

The Final Rule adopted by the Commission today will affect only persons 

registered or required to be registered as CPOs. The Commission has previously 

 164 MFA, at 4. 165 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
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established certain definitions of “small entities” to be used by the Commission in 

evaluating the impact of its rules on such entities in accordance with the requirements of 

the RFA.166 With respect to CPOs, the Commission previously has determined that a 

CPO is a small entity for purposes of the RFA, if it meets the criteria for an exemption 

from registration under Commission Regulation 4.13(a)(2).167 Because the Final Rule

generally applies to persons registered or required to be registered as CPOs with the 

Commission, the RFA is not applicable to the Final Rule.

168

Accordingly, the Chairman, on behalf of the Commission, hereby certifies 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. section 605(b) that this Final Rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act

i. Overview

The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) imposes certain requirements on Federal 

agencies in connection with their conducting or sponsoring any collection of information 

as defined by the PRA.169 Under the PRA, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a 

person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 

currently valid control number from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The 

amendments set forth in the Proposal would result in a collection of information within 

 166 See, e.g., Policy Statement and Establishment of Definitions of “Small Entities” for Purposes of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act, 47 FR 18618, 18620 (Apr. 30, 1982).

167 Id. at 18619-20. Commission Regulation 4.13(a)(2) exempts a person from registration as a CPO when: 

(1) none of the pools operated by that person has more than 15 participants at any time, and (2) when 

excluding certain sources of funding, the total gross capital contributions the person receives for units of 

participation in all of the pools it operates or intends to operate do not, in the aggregate, exceed $400,000. 

See 17 CFR 4.13(a)(2). 168 Moreover, Commission regulation 4.27(b)(2)(i) specifically excludes from the obligation to file Form 

CPO-PQR any CPO that “operates only pools for which it maintains ... an exemption from registration as a 

commodity pool operator [as provided in Commission Regulation] 4.13.”

169 See 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
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the meaning of the PRA, as discussed below. The Commission therefore submitted the

Proposal to OMB for review. The Proposal also invited the public and other Federal 

agencies to comment on any aspect of the proposed information collection requirements 

discussed therein;170 however, no such comments were received. 

The Final Rule affects a single collection of information for which the 

Commission has previously received a control number from OMB. This collection of 

information is, “Rules Relating to the Operations and Activities of Commodity Pool 

Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors and to Monthly Reporting by Futures 

Commission Merchants, OMB control number 3038-0005” (Collection 3038-0005).

Collection 3038-0005 primarily accounts for the burden associated with part 4 of the 

Commission’s regulations that concern compliance obligations generally applicable to 

CPOs and commodity trading advisors (CTAs), as well as certain enumerated exemptions 

from registration as such, exclusions from those definitions, and available relief from 

compliance with certain regulatory requirements. 

As discussed above, the Final Rule includes substantive changes to the current 

form, such as (1) amending Schedule A, (which, together with the PSOI that is currently 

part of Schedule B, will constitute the entirety of the Revised Form), to add a requirement 

to disclose the LEIs (if any) for each reporting CPO and operated pool; (2) moving 

Schedule B’s “Schedule of Investments” section to Schedule A; and (3) rescinding the 

remainder of the current form’s current Schedules B and C. Additionally, Commission 

regulation 4.27(c)(2) will now permit the filing of NFA Form PQR with NFA in lieu of 

reporting CPOs filing the Revised Form with the Commission. Therefore, the 

 170 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26386.
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Commission is amending Collection 3038-0005 to be consistent with the finalized 

restructuring of the Revised Form. Specifically, the Commission is amending the 

collection to reflect the expected adjustment in burden hours for registered CPOs filing 

the Revised Form for their operated pools, and also to include in the collection, a 

reporting CPO’s ability to file NFA Form PQR in lieu of filing the Revised Form, 

provided that it is determined to be substantively consistent with the Revised Form.

The Final Rule is not expected to impose any significant new burdens on CPOs, 

but rather will constitute a substantial reduction in reporting burden for most impacted 

registrants. Approximately half of all registered CPOs are currently considered MidSized CPOs or Large CPOs under the existing form and filing regime. Due to the Final 

Rule and its significant revisions to the form, these reporting CPOs will be required to 

answer far fewer questions, when compared to the historical Form CPO-PQR’s

requirements.

171 CPOs classified as Small CPOs may experience a slight increase in 

burden, due to an increase in the frequency of reporting to a quarterly basis rather than 

annually, and the addition of the PSOI to the Revised Form for all reporting CPOs. The 

Commission believes, however, that for many of these CPOs, this burden increase will

practically be slight or very technical in nature, because currently, all reporting CPOs

complete NFA Form PQR, which also includes a schedule of investments identical to the 

Revised Form’s PSOI, on a quarterly basis pursuant to NFA membership rules. The 

Commission anticipates that going forward, pursuant to amended Commission regulation 

4.27(c)(2), reporting CPOs, regardless of their size or classification under the original 

form, will complete and file NFA Form PQR in lieu of the Revised Form, which will 

 171 See, e.g., supra pt. II.B (discussing the elimination of Schedules B and C from the Revised Form).
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further allow them to maximize efficiency by fulfilling both NFA and CFTC reporting 

requirements with one filing.

172

Therefore, the Commission infers that the Final Rule and the Revised Form will 

generally prove to be less burdensome for reporting CPOs, or at least, will not create any

new net burden for them. As a result, the Commission is amending the collection, as 

proposed, to reflect the elimination of reporting thresholds and classifications of CPO by 

size, as well as the multiple Schedules in the original form; to account for the uniform 

quarterly filing schedule adopted for all reporting CPOs for their operated pools; and to 

adopt an overall estimated burden for all filings that includes the retained questions from 

Schedule A, as well as the adopted PSOI (from original Schedule B) discussed above. 

Although the Final Rule results in an increase in the burden hours associated with 

completing the Revised Form, the Commission anticipates that, in practice, reporting 

CPOs will either experience no change in their burden, or some decrease in burden. As 

discussed above, the Commission has determined to accept the filing of NFA Form PQR 

in lieu of filing the Revised Form. Because any data on NFA Form PQR submitted as 

substituted compliance for required Commission regulation 4.27 reporting would thereby 

become data collected by the Commission, the burden associated with NFA Form PQR 

must also be included in a collection of information with an OMB control number. 

Therefore, the Commission is amending the current burden associated with OMB Control 

Number 3038-0005 to also reflect the burden resulting from NFA Form PQR, which the 

 172 See infra Commission regulation 4.27(c)(2), as amended by the Final Rule (permitting the filing of NFA 

Form PQR in lieu of filing the Revised Form with the Commission).
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Commission estimates to be substantively identical to that derived from the Revised 

Form.173

Despite the fact that the Commission will accept the filing of NFA Form PQR in 

lieu of a filing on the Revised Form, the Commission has determined that it should retain 

its own form for data collection purposes and to ensure that it retains the ability to 

perform its regulatory duties and satisfy its data needs regarding CPOs in the future on a

unilateral basis, if necessary. Moreover, the Commission anticipates that it will

incorporate the information collected on the Revised Form more consistently with its 

other data streams. To that end, retaining its own form independent of NFA confirms 

and preserves the Commission’s independent and primary role in developing its 

regulatory and compliance program with respect to registered CPOs and their pools

generally, notwithstanding its history of delegating certain registration and compliance 

functions to NFA. Furthermore, retaining the Revised Form should ensure that the public 

is able to exercise its rights to receive notice and provide comment as to the content and 

structure of the Revised Form, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, and 

consistent with prior practice for the original form.

174 Therefore, the Commission 

concludes that the final Revised Form announced today in the Final Rule is not 

unnecessarily duplicative to information otherwise reasonably accessible to the 

Commission.

ii. Revisions to the Collection of Information: OMB Control Number 

3038-0005

 173 As stated in the Proposal, “the PRA estimates ... assume that all registered CPOs will either file 

Revised Form CPO-PQR on a quarterly basis, or NFA Form PQR, but in no event will a CPO be required 

to file both.” 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26386. 174 APA, 5 U.S.C. 553(c).
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Collection 3038-0005 is currently in force with its control number having been 

provided by OMB, and it was renewed recently on January 30, 2019.175 As stated above, 

Collection 3038-0005 governs responses made pursuant to part 4 of the Commission’s 

regulations, pertaining to the operations of CPOs and CTAs, including the required 

responses of registered CPOs on Form CPO-PQR pursuant to Commission regulation 

4.27. Generally, the Commission is adjusting, as discussed below, the information 

collection to reflect an increase in the burden hours associated with the collection of 

information in the Revised Form. The Commission anticipates, however, that (1) CPOs 

currently categorized as either Mid-Sized or Large CPOs are expected to experience a 

substantial reduction in burden relative to the current filing requirements under 

Commission regulation 4.27 and Form CPO-PQR; and (2) CPOs considered Small CPOs 

under the current filing requirements will experience no practical or substantial increase 

in burden because, like all other registered CPOs, they are currently required to file NFA 

Form PQR, which already includes a schedule of investments identical to the Revised 

Form’s PSOI, on a quarterly basis, and such Small CPOs, as well as all other reporting

CPOs, will be permitted to file NFA Form PQR in lieu of filing the Revised Form.

The currently approved total burden associated with Collection 3038-0005, in the 

aggregate, is as follows:

Estimated number of respondents: 45,097.

Annual responses for all respondents: 118,824.

 175 See Notice of Office of Management and Budget Action, OMB Control No. 3038-0005, available at

https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201701-3038-005.
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Estimated average hours per response: 3.16.176

Annual reporting burden: 375,484.

The portion of the aggregate burden that is derived from the current Form CPOPQR filing requirements is as follows:

Schedule A (for non-Large CPOs and Large CPOs filing Joint Form PF):

Estimated number of respondents: 1,450.

Annual responses for all respondents: 1,450.

Estimated average hours per response: 6.

Annual reporting burden: 8,700.

Schedule A (for Large CPOs not filing Joint Form PF):

Estimated number of respondents: 250.

Annual responses for all respondents: 1,000.

Estimated average hours per response: 6.

Annual reporting burden: 6,000.

Schedule B (for Mid-Sized CPOs):

Estimated number of respondents: 400.

Annual responses for all respondents: 400.

Estimated average hours per response: 4.

Annual reporting burden: 1,600.

Schedule B (for Large CPOs not filing Joint Form PF):

Estimated number of respondents: 250.

 176 The Commission rounded the average hours per response to the second decimal place for ease of 

presentation.
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Annual responses for all respondents: 1,000.

Estimated average hours per response: 4.

Annual reporting burden: 4,000.

Schedule C (for Large CPOs not filing Joint Form PF):

Estimated number of respondents: 250.

Annual responses for all respondents: 1,000.

Estimated average hours per response: 18.

Annual reporting burden: 18,000.

The burden associated with NFA Form PQR was proposed as follows:

Estimated number of respondents: 1,700

Annual responses by each respondent: 6,800.

Estimated average hours per response: 8.

Annual reporting burden: 54,400.

Total annual reporting burden for all CPOs for current Form CPO-PQR and NFA 

Form PQR: 86,900.

The Commission will no longer be estimating burden hours according to each 

individual Schedule of the form, because, pursuant to the Final Rule, the Revised Form 

will not have schedules. Therefore, the Commission is amending the collection for Form 

CPO-PQR compliance to be a single burden-hours estimate for each reporting CPO 

completing the Revised Form in its entirety.177 As noted above, the Commission is also 

requiring that the Revised Form be filed quarterly by each reporting CPO, regardless of 

 177 Additionally, the Commission will be accepting the filing of NFA Form PQR in lieu of the Revised 

Form, which the Commission has designed purposefully to be very similar. See supra pt. II.G.i. The 

Commission reiterates that these PRA estimates assume that all registered CPOs will either file the Revised 

Form on a quarterly basis, or NFA Form PQR, but in no event will a CPO be required to file both. 
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the size of their operations, which would result in four (4) annual responses by each 

respondent. Further, in the Commission’s experience, the PSOI comprised a considerable 

portion of the burden hours previously associated with completing Schedule B, 

depending on the complexity of a CPO’s operations and the number of pools it operated. 

Thus, the Commission is estimating average hours per response in such a way as to 

ensure that burden continues to be counted. As noted above, although the estimated 

hours per response is expected to increase due to the retention of the PSOI and the filing

frequency increasing to quarterly for many reporting CPOs, CPOs should not practically 

experience an increase in burden. The Commission comes to this conclusion because all 

reporting CPOs are already required to provide a schedule of investments identical to the 

PSOI, as part of their existing NFA Form PQR filings, which NFA membership rules 

require on a quarterly basis, and because the Commission expects that CPOs will 

continue to make such filings to take advantage of the substituted compliance for NFA 

Form PQR with respect to the Revised Form, as adopted by the Final Rule.

Therefore, the Commission estimates the burden to registered CPOs for 

completing the Revised Form and NFA Form PQR, because of the option to file this form 

in lieu of the Revised Form, to be as follows:

For the Revised Form and NFA Form PQR for All Registered CPOs:

Estimated number of respondents: 1,700.

Annual responses by each respondent: 6,800.

Estimated average hours per response: 8.

Annual reporting burden: 54,400.
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The new total burden associated with Collection 3038-0005, in the aggregate, 

reflecting the adjustment in burden associated with Commission regulation 4.27 and the 

Revised Form, is as follows:

Estimated number of respondents: 43,062.

Annual responses for all respondents: 113,980.

Estimated average hours per response: 3.25.

Annual reporting burden: 370,467.

C. Cost-benefit Considerations

Section 15(a) of the CEA requires the Commission to consider the costs and 

benefits of its discretionary actions before promulgating a regulation under the CEA or 

issuing certain orders.178 Section 15(a) further specifies that the costs and benefits shall 

be evaluated in light of five broad areas of market and public concern: (1) protection of 

market participants and the public; (2) efficiency, competitiveness, and financial integrity 

of swaps markets; (3) price discovery; (4) sound risk management practices; and (5) other 

public interest considerations. The Commission considers the costs and benefits resulting 

from its discretionary determinations with respect to the CEA section 15(a) 

considerations.

As discussed above, the Commission is finalizing amendments to Form CPOPQR that would significantly reduce the amount of reporting required thereunder. 

Specifically, the Final Rule: (1) eliminates the pool-specific reporting requirements in 

existing Schedules B and C of Form CPO-PQR, other than the PSOI (question 6 of 

Schedule B); (2) amends the information in existing Schedule A of the form to request 

 178 7 U.S.C. 19(a).
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LEIs for CPOs and their operated pools and to eliminate questions regarding the pool’s 

auditors and marketers; (3) requires all reporting CPOs to submit all information retained 

in the Revised Form on a quarterly basis; and (4) allows CPOs to file NFA Form PQR in 

lieu of filing the Revised Form, provided that NFA amends NFA Form PQR to include 

LEIs. In the sections that follow, the Commission considers the various costs and 

benefits associated with each aspect of the Final Rule. The baseline against which these 

costs and benefits are compared is the regulatory status quo, represented by Form CPOPQR as codified in Appendix A to part 4 prior to these amendments.

The consideration of costs and benefits below is based on the understanding that 

the markets function internationally, with many transactions involving U.S. firms taking 

place across international boundaries; with some Commission registrants being organized 

outside of the United States; with some leading industry members typically conducting 

operations both within and outside the United States; and with industry members 

commonly following substantially similar business practices wherever located. Where 

the Commission does not specifically refer to matters of location, the discussion of costs 

and benefits below refers to the effects of this proposal on all activity subject to the 

proposed and amended regulations, whether by virtue of the activity’s physical location 

in the United States or by virtue of the activity’s connection with or effect on U.S. 

commerce under CEA section 2(i).179 Some CPOs are located outside of the United 

States.

i. The Elimination of Pool-Specific Reporting Requirements in Schedules B 

and C

 179 7 U.S.C. 2(i).
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The Commission is adopting as final amendments that eliminate the pool-specific 

reporting requirements in existing Schedules B and C of Form CPO-PQR, other than the

PSOI (question 6 of Schedule B). The Commission acknowledges that this change could 

result in less information available to the Commission and, potentially, to FSOC. The 

detailed and specific information requested in Schedules B and C of Form CPO-PQR is 

not available to the Commission through any of its other data streams and, if put to its full 

use, would allow for monitoring of CPOs and their operated pools in a way that could 

help identify trends and points of stress. The challenges associated with the Form CPOPQR dataset are a primary reason for the Commission’s decision to discontinue its

collection of this information, including challenges posed by the degree of flexibility 

afforded CPOs in reporting this information, and the fact that this information is only 

reported to the Commission on a quarterly basis, at its most frequent. Given these 

limitations associated with the data collected, the Commission has determined to 

prioritize its limited resources to pursue other key regulatory initiatives.

However, considering the alternate data streams currently available to the 

Commission, the Commission should nevertheless be able to effectively oversee

registered CPOs and their operated pools, and potentially do so in a more efficient and 

effective manner, by adopting the Revised Form as proposed, with some additional 

clarifications to the Instructions and Defined Terms. Furthermore, due in part to the 

identified data quality issues, the Commission has not provided FSOC with any Form 

CPO-PQR data to date. The Commission acknowledges, though, that FSOC would now

receive less data from the Commission, as a result of changes made by the Final Rule, as 

some CPOs that are filing CFTC-only pool information through Joint Form PF may stop. 
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Nonetheless, the Commission does not believe that FSOC’s monitoring abilities would be 

materially or negatively affected, compared to the status quo, by the Commission’s 

rescission of most of Schedules B and C in Form CPO-PQR, as the Commission has not 

provided FSOC with any data.

The Commission anticipates that eliminating these pool-specific reporting 

requirements will also reduce the ongoing variable compliance costs for those CPOs 

considered Mid-Sized CPOs or Large CPOs, and which may move between those filing 

categories with some regularity, under the status quo. Consequently, those reporting 

CPOs would no longer need to devote their resources to compiling, analyzing, and 

reporting this data, which may have had limited utility with respect to their day-to-day 

operations, to the Commission. Additionally, reporting CPOs in general will no longer 

be required to monitor their AUMs for the specific purpose of determining their filing 

obligations because, pursuant to the Final Rule, there is now a single filing requirement 

for all reporting CPOs. It is possible that the resulting cost savings may allow those 

CPOs to devote their resources to other compliance or operational initiatives, or to 

potentially pass those cost savings on to pool participants through reduced fees. These 

cost savings will likely be reduced, however, for any CPO that is dually registered with 

the SEC and required to file Joint Form PF because that form requires reporting of 

information substantially similar to that required in the eliminated Schedules B and C, 

and the Final Rule does not alter any such CPO’s Joint Form PF filing obligations. 

Finally, the Commission recognizes that the Final Rule also does not alleviate any of the 

fixed or long-term costs reporting CPOs may have already incurred in developing 
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systems and procedures designed to meet the reporting requirements of the original form, 

including Schedules B and C.

ii. The Revised Form 

The Final Rule adopts the Revised Form, which retains questions from existing 

Schedule A of Form CPO-PQR, and also adds questions to request LEIs for CPOs and 

their operated pools. The Commission anticipates that adding these LEI questions will

allow it to integrate the data collected by the Revised Form with the Commission’s other 

more current data streams. Leveraging these other data sources in combination with 

filings of the Revised Form will enable the Commission to continue its oversight and 

monitoring of counterparty and liquidity risk for some of the largest pools within the 

Commission’s jurisdiction. The Commission thereby concludes that the Final Rule will 

allow it to focus on areas relevant for assessing and monitoring market and systemic risk, 

while eliminating the reporting burden associated with Schedules B and C, particularly 

with respect to pools that would be considered Large Pools. 

The addition of these LEI fields may minimally increase the cost for reporting 

CPOs and their operated pools that engage in swaps with respect to the initial filing of the 

Revised Form, as LEIs do not change over time, potentially allowing fields for those 

questions to be prepopulated in subsequent filings. The Commission observes further 

that neither the Revised Form nor Commission regulation 4.27 independently creates an 

affirmative requirement for CPOs to obtain LEIs for themselves and their operated pools,

and that CPOs engaging in swaps already have LEIs for themselves and/or their pools. 

Additionally, the Commission has declined in the Final Rule to require the renewal or 
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maintenance of LEIs for purposes of meeting this Revised Form requirement.

180

Accordingly, the Commission finds that there is likely no additional cost to consider for a 

reporting CPO related to LEIs beyond the minimal one-time expenditure for the initial 

Revised Form filing that includes LEIs. 

The Final Rule also eliminates from the Revised Form questions regarding the 

pool’s auditors and marketers. The Commission has determined that these amendments

will result in reduced costs for reporting CPOs without affecting the scope of information 

available to the Commission, as the Commission already receives information regarding 

CPO’s accountants and has alternate means of obtaining information about a pool’s 

marketers. For example, persons soliciting for pool participation units are typically either 

associated persons of the CPO or registered representatives of a broker-dealer. Such 

persons are already subject to regulation by either the Commission and NFA, or the SEC 

and FINRA, and therefore readily identifiable by the Commission outside of Form CPOPQR. 

Currently, all CPOs other than Large CPOs submit the information required by

the existing form’s Schedule A annually. Increasing the frequency with which this 

information is reported will assist the Commission in its efforts to integrate the Revised 

Form with the Commission’s other timelier data sources, which the Commission believes 

will improve the overall efficacy of its monitoring and oversight of CPOs and their 

operated pools. Although this amendment will result in an increased regulatory cost for 

CPOs considered to be Small and Mid-Sized CPOs under the existing form, when

compared to the regulatory status quo, the Commission concludes that the costs actually 

 180 See supra pt. II.E.
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realized by these CPOs will not be as significant, as they are already reporting this 

information on a quarterly basis via NFA Form PQR, as required by NFA.

Under the current form, only Mid-Sized and Large CPOs are required to submit a 

PSOI, and Mid-Sized CPOs submit that information annually. The Revised Form, as 

adopted by the Final Rule, will require all CPOs to submit that information quarterly. 

The Commission believes that receiving this information from all reporting CPOs more 

frequently will, when combined with the new questions regarding LEIs, further enhance 

its ability to integrate the data collected by the Revised Form with other data streams and 

to identify trends on a timelier basis. As a result, the Commission concludes that 

adopting a quarterly filing schedule for all CPOs reporting on the Revised Form will

ultimately support its goal of effectively monitoring CPOs and their operated pools for 

market and systemic risk, while also simplifying the reporting requirements applicable to 

registered CPOs. 

The Commission realizes that requiring all information on the Revised Form, 

including a PSOI for each operated pool, from all reporting CPOs on a quarterly basis 

will result in an increased regulatory cost, when compared to the regulatory status quo,

particularly for CPOs that would be considered Small and Mid-Sized CPOs under the 

existing filing regime. For instance, CPOs previously considered Small CPOs may be 

required to develop the procedures and systems necessary to meet the additional reporting 

obligations for the Revised Form’s PSOI, and CPOs previously considered either Small 

CPOs or Mid-Sized CPOs will be required by the Final Rule to report that information to 

the Commission on a quarterly basis. The Commission emphasizes, however, that all 

registered CPOs, regardless of the size of their operations or AUM, are currently required 
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to report the PSOI on a quarterly basis via NFA Form PQR, as required by NFA 

membership rules, meaning the actual costs as realized by these CPOs as a result of the 

Final Rule should not be as significant, given the goal of aligning the Revised Form with 

NFA Form PQR.

The Final Rule also amends Commission regulation 4.27(c) such that it allows

reporting CPOs to file NFA Form PQR in lieu of filing the Revised Form, provided that 

NFA amends NFA Form PQR to include questions regarding LEIs. Under NFA’s 

membership rules, all CPOs regardless of size are currently required to file NFA Form 

PQR on a quarterly basis. This provision will help CPOs maintain their current filing 

costs without affecting the scope of information available to the Commission under the 

Revised Form.

As mentioned above, the Commission acknowledges that, through adopting this

revision to Commission regulation 4.27(d), the Final Rule could result in less data being 

collected on Joint Form PF, as compared to the current status quo. Many dually 

registered CPOs currently include commodity pools that are not private funds in data that 

they report on Joint Form PF, in lieu of filing Form CPO-PQR for such pools, in reliance 

on Commission regulation 4.27(d). As a result of the Final Rule’s revisions to 

Commission regulation 4.27(d), these CPO-investment advisers could decide to stop 

including these pools in their Joint Form PF filings. The Commission concludes though 

that this loss of data to the SEC and FSOC will not meaningfully impact the efficacy and 

intent of Joint Form PF in furthering the oversight of the private fund industry, given that 

it would only result in the loss of data with respect to non-private fund pools; the 
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Commission acknowledges, however, that FSOC may lose data for a specific type of 

private fund asset class, specifically, managed futures.181

Additionally, all CPOs will be required to make a certain amount of alterations to 

their reporting systems to accommodate the changes adopted herein, even if it is just to 

deactivate certain data elements that are no longer required and to add the questions 

regarding LEIs. The Commission anticipates that any such costs will generally be onetime expenditures, and moreover, should not be extensive, given the Commission’s 

efforts in the Final Rule to align the Revised Form with NFA Form PQR, to the greatest 

extent possible.

iii. Alternatives

In lieu of amending Form CPO-PQR as proposed, the Commission also 

considered two alternative approaches in the Proposal, and requested comments and data 

on how those potential alternatives might impact the estimated costs and benefits to 

market participants and the public.182 The first alternative considered by the Commission

was requiring all CPOs, regardless of whether they are dually registered, to file Joint

Form PF. ICI commented that this alternative would likely result in increased costs for 

registered fund CPOs, noting that, although CPOs of RICs are regulated by both the 

Commission and the SEC, such CPOs are not currently required to file Joint Form PF.183 

The Commission agrees that this alternative would likely increase the reporting burdens

and costs for CPOs not so dually registered, as well as for CPOs that are dually

 181 ICI commented that it did not believe that the Commission should focus on any perceived data needs of 

the FSOC in determining the scope and focus of Form CPO-PQR, but rather the Commission should act in 

whatever manner best supports its own regulatory interests in revising the form. ICI, at 5-6. 182 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26388. 183 ICI, at 5 (noting additionally that CPOs of RICs would thus incur costs related to adapting their current 

systems and processes for the purpose of filing Joint Form PF instead).
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 10/6/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

67

registered, yet do not currently file Joint Form PF; under this alternative, those CPOs 

would incur increased reporting burdens and costs without providing information directly 

to the Commission that will be integrated with its other data sources to develop its 

internal oversight initiatives over CPOs and their operated pools. 

The second alternative described in the Proposal that the Commission considered 

was to devote resources to rectifying the challenges with the data reported under the 

current form, and amend it to require greater consistency and frequency of reporting of 

the data fields eliminated by the Final Rule. However, the Commission stated in the 

Proposal its preliminarily belief that its limited resources could be better directed in line 

with its regulatory priorities, and that its objectives with respect to oversight of CPOs and 

their operated pools could be effectively and potentially, more efficiently, achieved 

through integration with existing data streams.184 ICI supported this preliminary 

conclusion by the Commission and argued that a “more targeted data set is most useful 

for initial monitoring purposes.”185 After considering the alternatives and the responsive 

comments, the Commission concludes that the changes to the form and Commission 

regulation 4.27 adopted by the Final Rule, relative to the alternatives, will facilitate the 

Commission’s effective discharging of its regulatory duties in a manner that 

simultaneously has the greatest impact on market and systemic risk and eases reporting 

obligations on a significant number of reporting CPOs with respect to their operated 

pools. 

iv. Section 15(a) Factors

 184 2020 CPO-PQR NPRM, 85 FR at 26388.

185 ICI, at 6.
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 10/6/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

68

a. Protection of Market Participants and the Public 

The Commission believes that the Final Rule will enhance the ability of the 

Commission to protect derivatives markets, its participants, and the public by allowing it 

to integrate the data collected by the Revised Form with other existing, more up-to-date 

data streams in a way that will allow the Commission to better exercise its oversight of 

registered CPOs and their operated pools. As discussed above, the Final Rule may result 

in a loss of data available to FSOC, which could limit FSOC’s visibility into the activities 

of CPOs and their operated pools.

b. Efficiency, Competitiveness, and Financial Integrity of 

Markets

The Commission believes that the Final Rule will assist the Commission in its 

efforts to support market efficiency, competitiveness, and financial integrity. Under the 

Final Rule, reporting CPOs will continue to provide useful information about themselves 

and their operated pools to the Commission in a way that will permit the Commission to

incorporate that data with its other data streams. The Commission believes that 

consolidating the data collected in this manner will improve its oversight of reporting 

CPOs, their operated pools, and how they affect the derivatives markets. Additionally, 

the Commission believes that the specific requirement that a CPO prepare a PSOI on a 

quarterly basis for each of its operated pools may result in heightened diligence by 

reporting CPOs, with respect to their pools’ ongoing operations, and may encourage 

particularly smaller CPOs to adopt more formalized controls for their businesses. The 

Commission believes that both of those results will generally enhance the confidence of 
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 10/6/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

69

other market participants in transacting with CPOs and their operated pools, and 

generally, support the efficiency, competitiveness, and financial integrity of the markets.

c. Price Discovery

The Commission has not identified any impact that the Final Rule would have on 

price discovery.

d. Sound Risk Management Practices

Although the Commission is no longer requiring reporting CPOs and their 

operated pools to report certain risk information on the Revised Form, the Commission 

recognizes that CPOs will likely, in general, continue to benefit from establishing and 

possessing systems that collect and review risk-related information, even if it is no longer 

reported. The Commission has not identified any other impact that the Final Rule would 

have on sound risk management practices.

e. Other Public Interest Considerations

The Commission did not identify any other public interest considerations that the 

Final Rule would have.

D. Antitrust Laws

Section 15(b) of the CEA requires the Commission to “take into consideration the 

public interest to be protected by the antitrust laws and endeavor to take the least 

anticompetitive means of achieving the purposes of the CEA, in issuing any order or 

adopting any Commission rule or regulation (including any exemption under CEA 

section 4(c) or 4c(b)), or in requiring or approving any bylaw, rule, or regulation of a 
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 10/6/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

70

contract market or registered futures association established pursuant to section 17 of this 

Act.”186 

The Commission believes that the public interest to be protected by the antitrust 

laws is generally to protect competition. The Commission requested comment on 

whether the Proposal implicates any other specific public interest to be protected by the 

antitrust laws, but did not receive any comments on whether the Proposal was 

anticompetitive.

The Commission has considered the Final Rule to determine whether it is 

anticompetitive and has identified no anticompetitive effects. Because the Commission 

has determined the Final Rule is not anticompetitive and has no anticompetitive effects, 

the Commission has not identified any less anticompetitive means of achieving the 

purposes of the CEA.

List of Subjects in 17 CFR part 4

Advertising, Brokers, Commodity futures, Commodity pool operators, 

Commodity trading advisors, Consumer protection, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission hereby amends 17 CFR part 4 as set forth below: 

PART 4—COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS AND COMMODITY TRADING 

ADVISORS

1. The authority citation for part 4 shall continue to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1a, 2, 6(c), 6b, 6c, 6l, 6m, 6n, 6o, 12a, and 23.

 186 7 U.S.C. 19(b).
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 10/6/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

71

2. In § 4.27, revise paragraphs (c) and (d) to read as follows:

§ 4.27 Additional reporting by commodity pool operators and commodity trading 

advisors.

* * * * *

(c) Reporting.

(1) Each reporting person shall file with the National Futures Association, a 

report with respect to the directed assets of each pool under the advisement of 

a commodity pool operator consistent with appendix A to this part, or a commodity 

trading advisor consistent with appendix C to this part.

(2) A reporting person required to file NFA Form PQR with the National Futures 

Association for the reporting period may make such filing in lieu of the report required 

under paragraph (c)(1) of this section; Provided that, the Commission has determined that 

NFA Form PQR is substantively consistent with appendix A to this part.

(3) Nothing in this provision restricts the National Futures Association’s ability 

to require reporting beyond that required by the Commission; Provided that, such 

additional requirements are consistent with the Commodity Exchange Act and 

Commission regulations promulgated thereunder. 

(4) All financial information shall be reported in accordance with generally 

accepted accounting principles consistently applied. A reporting person operating a pool 

that meets the conditions specified in § 4.22(d)(2)(i) to present and compute the 

commodity pool’s financial statements contained in the Annual Report other than in 

accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles and has filed 

notice pursuant to § 4.22(d)(2)(iii) may also use the alternative accounting principles, 
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 10/6/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

72

standards, or practices identified in that notice in reporting information required to be 

reported pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section.

(d) Investment advisers to private funds. Commodity pool operators and 

commodity trading advisors that are dually registered as investment advisers with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission, and that are required to file Form PF under the 

rules promulgated under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, shall file Form PF with 

the Securities and Exchange Commission, in addition to filings made pursuant to 

paragraph (c)(1) of this section. Dually registered commodity pool operators and 

commodity trading advisors that file Form PF with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission will be deemed to have filed Form PF with the Commission, for purposes of 

any enforcement action regarding any false or misleading statement of material fact in 

Form PF.

* * * * * 

3. Revise appendix A to part 4 to read as follows:

Appendix A to Part 4—Form CPO-PQR
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

73

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

Instructions for Using the Form CPO-PQR

CFTC Form CPO-PQR

OMB No.: 3038-0005

READ THE DEFINITIONS AND FILING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE COMPLETING OR REVIEWING 

THE REPORTING FORM. 

This document is not a reporting form. Do not send this document to NFA. It is a template that you may use 

to assist in filing the electronic reporting form with the NFA at: http://www.nfa.futures.org. 

You may fill out the template online and save and/or print it when you are finished or you can download the template 

and/or print it and fill it out later.

DEFINED TERMS

Words that are underlined in this form are defined terms and have the meanings contained in the Defined Terms 

section.

GENERAL

Read the Instructions and Questions Carefully.

Please read the instructions and the questions in this Form CPO-PQR carefully. 

In this Form CPO-PQR, “you” means the CPO. 

Call the CFTC with Questions

If there is any question about whether particular information must be provided or about the manner in which particular 

information must be provided, contact the CFTC for clarification.
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

74

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

Instructions for Using the Form CPO-PQR

CFTC Form CPO-PQR

OMB No.: 3038-0005

DEFINED TERMS

Affiliated Entity: The term “Affiliated Entity” means any entity is an affiliate of another entity. An entity is an affiliate 

of another entity if the entity directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the other 

entity.

Assets Under Management or AUM: The term “Assets Under Management” or “AUM” means the amount of all 

assets that are under the control of the CPO.

BP: The term “BP” means basis points.

Broker: The term “Broker” means any entity that provides clearing, prime brokerage or similar services to the Pool.

CDS: The term “CDS” means credit default swap.

CCP: The term “CCP” means a central counterparty or central clearing house, such as, but not limited to: CC&G, 

CME Clearing, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (including FICC, NSCC and Euro CCP), EMCF, Eurex 

Clearing, Fedwire, ICE Clear Europe, ICE Clear U.S., ICE Trust, LCH Clearnet Limited, LCH Clearnet SA, Options 

Clearing Corporation, and SIX x-clear.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission or CFTC: The term “Commodity Futures Trading Commission” or 

“CFTC” means the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Commodity Pool or Pool: The term “Commodity Pool” or “Pool” has the same meaning as “commodity pool” as 

defined in section 1a(10) of the Commodity Exchange Act. 

Commodity Pool Operator or CPO: The term “commodity pool operator” or “CPO” has the same meaning as 

“commodity pool operator” defined in section 1a(11) of the Commodity Exchange Act, except that, for purposes of 

this Form CPO-PQR, the term does not include a CPO that is registered, but operates only Pools for which it 

maintains an exclusion from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” in 17 CFR 4.5 and/or an exemption 

from CPO registration in 17 CFR 4.13. See 17 CFR 4.27(b)(2)(i).

Commodity Trading Advisor or CTA: The term “commodity trading advisor” or “CTA” has the same meaning as 

“commodity trading advisor” as defined in section 1a(12) of the Commodity Exchange Act.

Feeder Fund: See Master-Feeder Arrangement.

Financial Institution: The term “financial institution” means any of the following: (i) a bank or savings association, in 

each case as defined in the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; (ii) a bank holding company or financial holding company, 

in each case as defined in the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956; (iii) a savings and loan holding company, as 

defined in the Home Owners’ Loan Act; (iv) a Federal credit union, State credit union or State-chartered credit union, 

as those terms are defined in section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act; (v) a Farm Credit System institution 

chartered and subject to the provisions of the Farm Credit Act of 1971; or (vi) an entity chartered or otherwise 

organized outside the United States that engages in banking activities.

Form CPO-PQR: The term “Form CPO-PQR” means this Form CPO-PQR.
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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

Instructions for Using the Form CPO-PQR

CFTC Form CPO-PQR

OMB No.: 3038-0005

Form PF: The term “Form PF” refers to the Form PF.

GAAP: The term “GAAP” means U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or one of the alternative accounting 

principles, standards, or practices specified in 17 CFR 4.22(d)(2)(i). See 17 CFR 4.27(c)(4).

Investment Adviser: The term “Investment Adviser” has the same meaning as “investment adviser” as defined in 

Section 202(a)(11) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Legal Entity Identifier or LEI: The term “Legal Entity Identifier” or LEI refers to the identification number required by 

Commission Regulation 45.6 in all recordkeeping and swap data reporting, and which is issued by an LEI utility 

pursuant to that regulation. See 17 CFR 45.6.

Master Fund: See Master-Feeder Arrangement.

Master-Feeder Arrangement: The phrase “Master-Feeder Arrangement” means an arrangement in which one or 

more funds (“Feeder Funds”) invest all or substantially all of their assets in a single fund (“Master Fund”). A fund 

would also be a Feeder Fund investing in a Master Fund for the purposes of this definition, if it issued multiple 

classes or series of shares or interests, and each class (or series) invests substantially all of its assets in shares (or 

other interests in) a single underlying Master Fund.

National Futures Association or NFA: The term “National Futures Association” or “NFA” refers to the National 

Futures Association, a registered futures association under section 17 of the Commodity Exchange Act.

Negative OTE: The term Negative OTE means negative open trade equity, or the amount of unrealized losses on 

open derivative positions.

Net Asset Value or NAV: The term “Net Asset Value” or “NAV” has the same meaning as “net asset value” as 

defined in 17 CFR 4.10(b).

Non-U.S. Financial Institution: A “non-U.S. Financial Institution” means any of the following Financial Institutions: 

(i) a Financial Institution chartered outside the United States; (ii) a subsidiary of a U.S. Financial Institution that is 

separately incorporated or otherwise organized outside the United States; or (iii) a branch or agency that resides in 

the United States but has a parent that is a Financial Institution chartered outside the United States.

OTC: The term “OTC” means over-the-counter.

Private Fund: The term “Private Fund” has the same meaning as “private fund” as defined in Form PF.

Positive OTE: The term “Positive OTE” means positive open trade equity, or the amount of unrealized gains on open 

derivative positions.

Reporting Date: The term “Reporting Date” means the last calendar day of the Reporting Period for which this Form 

CPO-PQR is required to be completed and filed. For example, the Reporting Date for the first calendar quarter of a 

year is March 31; the Reporting Date for the second calendar quarter is June 30.

Reporting Period: The term “Reporting Period” means any of the individual calendar quarters (ending March 31, 

June 30, September 30, and December 31) for all CPOs.
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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

Instructions for Using the Form CPO-PQR

CFTC Form CPO-PQR

OMB No.: 3038-0005

Trading Manager: The term “Trading Manager” means any entity or individual with sole or partial authority to invest 

Pool assets or to allocate Pool assets to other managers or investee Pools (including cash management firms). 

CTAs and other CPOs can be Trading Managers; however, a CPO should not identify itself as a Trading Manager.

Secured Borrowing: The term “Secured Borrowing” means obligations for borrowed money in respect of which the 

borrower has posted collateral or other credit support. For purposes of this definition, repos are secured borrowings.

Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC: The term “Securities and Exchange Commission” or “SEC” means 

the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Side Arrangements and Side Letters: The term “Side Arrangements” or the term “Side Letters” means any 

arrangement that is extended to less than 100% of the Pool’s participants.

U.S. Financial Institution: The term “U.S. Financial Institution” means any of the following Financial Institutions: (i) 

a Financial Institution chartered in the United States (whether federally-chartered or state-chartered); (ii) a subsidiary 

of a Non-U.S. Financial Institution that is separately incorporated or otherwise organized in the United States; or (iii) a 

branch or agency that resides outside the United States but has a parent that is a Financial Institution chartered in 

the United States.

Unsecured Borrowing: The term “Unsecured Borrowing” means obligations for borrowed money in respect of which 

the borrower has not posted collateral or other credit support.
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

Instructions for Using the Form CPO-PQR

REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

1. All CPOs Are Required to Complete and File the Form CPO-PQR.

All CPOs are required to complete and file a Form CPO-PQR for each Reporting Period during which they satisfy the 

definition of CPO and operate at least one Pool. Further, if a Pool is operated by Co-CPOs and one of them is an 

Investment Adviser, the non-Investment Adviser CPO must file relevant section(s) even though a Form PF was filed 

for that Pool by the Investment Adviser-CPO.

All CPOs must complete and file Form CPO-PQR within 60 days of the close of the most recent Reporting Period. 

The information provided herein should be as of the Reporting Date, the last business day of the Reporting Period. 

Part 1 of Form CPO-PQR surveys basic information about the reporting CPO. Part 2 of Form CPO-PQR asks for 

more specific information about each of the CPO’s Pools, including questions about the Pool’s key relationships and 

about the Pool’s investment positions. 

 

2. Relationship to the National Futures Association’s NFA Form PQR

To the extent that a CPO has timely filed the National Futures Association’s NFA Form PQR, such filing shall be 

deemed to satisfy this Form CPO-PQR. See 17 CFR 4.27(c)(2).

3. CPOs Are Required to Separately Report Information Concerning Pools in a Master-Feeder Arrangement.

For the parts of Form CPO-PQR that request information about individual Pools, you must report information for each 

of the Pools in a Master-Feeder Arrangement individually. 

4. I advise a Pool that invests in other Pools or funds (e.g., a “fund of funds”). How should I treat these 

investments for purposes of Form CPO-PQR?

Investments in other Pools generally. For purposes of this Form CPO-PQR, you may disregard any Pool’s equity 

investments in other Pools. However, if you disregard these investments, you must do so consistently. For Question 

9, even if you disregard these assets, you may report the performance of the entire Pool and are not required to 

recalculate performance to exclude these investments. Do not disregard any liabilities, even if incurred in connection 

with these investments.

Pools that invest substantially all of their assets in other Pools or funds. If you are the CPO for a Pool that: (i) invests 

substantially all of its assets in the equity of Pools for which you are not the CPO; and (ii) aside from such Pool

investments, holds only cash and cash equivalents and instruments acquired for the purpose of hedging currency 

exposure, you must still complete this Form CPO-PQR for that Pool and include all assets of that Pool.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, you must include disregarded assets in responding to Questions 8 and 11 in this 

Form. 
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

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5. I advise a Pool that invests in entities that are not Pools, or are exempt. How should I treat these 

investments for purposes of Form CPO-PQR?

With respect to investments in entities that are not Pools or are exempt, these investments should be treated 

consistent with Instruction 4 above. 

6. Form CPO-PQR Must Be Filed Electronically with NFA.

All CPOs must file Form CPO-PQR electronically using NFA’s EasyFile System. NFA’s EasyFile System can be 

accessed through NFA’s website at www.nfa.futures.org. You will use the same logon and password for filing 

your Form CPO-PQR as you would for any other EasyFile filings. Questions regarding your NFA ID# or your use of 

NFA’s EasyFile system should be directed to NFA staff. NFA’s contact information is available on its website.

7. All Figures Must Be Reported in U.S. Dollars.

All questions asking for amounts or investments must be reported in U.S. dollars. Any amounts converted to U.S. 

dollars must use the conversion rate in effect on the Reporting Date.

8. Use of U.S. GAAP or Alternative Accounting Principles, Standards, or Practices.

All financial information in this Report must be presented and computed in accordance with GAAP consistently 

applied. See 17 CFR 4.27(c)(4).

9. Reporting of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs)

Form CPO-PQR includes questions asking CPOs for LEIs for the CPO and its operated Pools. CPOs are NOT

required to obtain LEIs for themselves or their operated Pools, solely for the purpose of completing this Form CPOPQR, where such CPOs or Pools are not otherwise required to have them for their operations. 

10. Oath and Affirmation

This Form CPO-PQR will not be accepted unless it is complete and contains an oath or affirmation that, to the best of 

the knowledge and belief of the individual making the oath or affirmation, the information contained in the document 

is accurate and complete; provided however, that is shall be unlawful for the individual to make such oath or 

affirmation if the individual knows or should know that any of the information in this Form CPO-PQR is not accurate 

and complete.
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

Form CPO-PQR Template 

INTRODUCTION

Every CPO is required to complete and file this Form CPO-PQR. This Form CPO-PQR must be completed for every 

Reporting Period during which the CPO operated at least one Pool. Part 1 of this Form asks for information about 

the CPO. Part 2 asks for information about each individual Pool that the CPO operated during the Reporting Period. 

CPOs must complete and file a separate Part 2 for each Pool they operated any time during the Reporting Period.

Unless otherwise specified in a particular question, all information provided in this Form should be accurate as of the 

Reporting Date.

PART 1 · INFORMATION ABOUT THE CPO

1. CPO INFORMATION

Provide the following general information concerning the CPO: 

a. CPO’s Name:

b. CPO’s NFA ID#:

c. CPO’s LEI #:

d. Person to contact concerning this Form CPO-PQR: 

e. CPO’s chief compliance officer:

f. Total number of employees of the CPO:

g. Total number of equity holders of the CPO:

h. Total number of Pools operated by the CPO:

i. Telephone number and email for person identified in d. above 

2. CPO ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT

Provide the following information concerning the amount of Assets Under Management by the CPO:

a. CPO’s Total Assets Under Management:

b. CPO’s Total Net Assets Under Management:
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

Form CPO-PQR Template 

PART 2 · INFORMATION ABOUT THE POOLS OPERATED BY THE CPO

REMINDER: The CPO must complete and file a separate Part 2 for each Pool that the CPO operated during the 

Reporting Period.

3. POOL INFORMATION

Provide the following general information concerning the Pool:

a. CPO’s Name:

b. Pool’s Name:

c. Pool’s NFA ID#:

d. Pool’s LEI #:

4. POOL THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATORS

Provide the following information concerning the Pool’s third party administrator(s):

a. Does the CPO use third party administrators for the Pool?

If “Yes,” provide the following information for each third party administrator:

i. Name of the administrator:

ii. NFA ID# of administrator:

iii. Address of the administrator:

iv. Telephone number of the administrator:

v. Starting date of the relationship with the administrator:

vi. Services performed by the administrator:

Preparation of Pool financial statements: 

Calculation of Pool’s performance: 

Maintenance of the Pool’s books and records: 

Other: 

5. POOL BROKERS

Provide the following information concerning the Pool’s Broker(s):

a. Does the CPO use Brokers for the Pool?

If “Yes,” provide the following information for each Broker:

i. Name of the Broker:

ii. NFA ID# of Broker:
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

Form CPO-PQR Template 

iii. Address of Broker

iv. Telephone number of the Broker:

v. Starting date of the relationship with the Broker:

vi. Services performed by the Broker:

Clearing services for the Pool: 

Prime brokerage services for the Pool: 

Custodian services for some or all Pool assets:

Other:

6. POOL TRADING MANAGERS

Provide the following information concerning the Pool’s Trading Manager(s):

a. Has the CPO authorized Trading Managers to invest or allocate some or all of the Pool’s Assets Under 

Management?

If “Yes,” provide the following information for each Trading Manager:

i. Name of the Trading Manager:

ii. NFA ID# of the Trading Manager:

iii. Address of the Trading Manager:

iv. Telephone number of the Trading Manager:

v. Starting date of the relationship with the Trading Manager:

vi. What percentage of the Pool’s Assets Under Management does the Trading Manager have authority to 

invest or allocate? 

7. POOL CUSTODIANS

Provide the following information concerning the Pool’s custodian(s):

a. Does the CPO use custodians to hold some or all of the Pool’s Assets Under Management?

If “Yes,” provide the following information for each custodian:

i. Name of the custodian:

ii. NFA ID# of the custodian:

iii. Address of the custodian:

iv. Telephone number of the custodian:

v. Starting date of the relationship with the custodian:

vi. What percentage of the Pool’s Assets Under Management is held by the custodian? 
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Form CPO-PQR Template 

8. POOL’S STATEMENT OF CHANGES CONCERNING ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT

Provide the following information concerning the Pool’s activity during the Reporting Period. For the purposes of 

this question: 

a. The Assets Under Management and Net Asset Value at the beginning of the Reporting Period are 

considered to be the same as the Assets Under Management and Net Asset Value at the end of the previous 

Reporting Period, in accordance with 17 CFR 4.25(a)(7)(A). 

b. The additions to the Pool include all additions whether voluntary or involuntary in accordance with 17 CFR

4.25(a)(7)(B).

c. The withdrawals and redemptions from the Pool include all withdrawals or redemptions whether voluntary or 

not, in accordance with 17 CFR 4.25(a)(7)(C).

d. The Pool’s Assets Under Management and Net Asset Value on the Reporting Date must be calculated by 

adding or subtracting from the Assets Under Management and Net Asset Value at the beginning of the 

Reporting Period, respectively, any additions, withdrawals, redemptions and net performance, as provided in 

17 CFR 4.25(a)(7)(E).

i. Pool’s Assets Under Management at the beginning of the Reporting Period:

ii. Pool’s Net Asset Value at the beginning of the Reporting Period:

iii. Pool’s net income during the Reporting Period:

iv. Additions to the Pool during the Reporting Period:

v. Withdrawals and Redemptions from the Pool during the Reporting Period:

vi. Pool’s Assets Under Management on the Reporting Date:

vii. Pool’s Net Asset Value on the Reporting Date:

viii. Pool’s base currency: 
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9. POOL’S MONTHLY RATES OF RETURN

Provide the Pool’s monthly rate of return for each month that the Pool has operated. The Pool’s monthly rate of 

return should be calculated in accordance with 17 CFR 4.25(a)(7)(F). Provide the Pool’s annual rate of return 

for the appropriate year in the row marked “Annual.”

2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

Jan.

Feb.

March

April

May

June

July

August

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

ANNUAL

10. POOL SUBSCRIPTIONS AND REDEMPTIONS

Provide the following information concerning subscriptions to and redemptions from the Pool during the 

Reporting Period.

a. Has the Pool imposed a halt or any other material limitation on redemptions during the Reporting Period?

If “Yes,” provide the following information:

i. On what date was the halt or material limitation imposed?

ii. If the halt or material limitation has been lifted, on what date was it lifted?

iii. What disclosure was provided to participants to notify them that the halt or material limitation was 

being imposed? What disclosure was provided to participants to notify them that the halt or material 

limitation was being lifted?

iv. On what date(s) was this disclosure provided?
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11. POOL SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS

Provide the Pool’s investments in each of the subcategories listed under the following seven headings: (1) Cash; 

(2) Equities; (3) Alternative Investments; (4) Fixed Income; (5) Derivatives; (6) Options; and (7) Funds. First, 

determine how the Pool’s investments should be allocated among each of these seven categories. Once you 

have determined how the Pool’s investments should be allocated, enter the dollar value of the Pool’s total 

investment in each applicable category on the top, boldfaced line. For example, under the “Cash” heading, the 

Pool’s total investment should be listed on the line reading “Total Cash.” After the top, boldfaced line is 

completed, proceed to the subcategories. For each subcategory, determine whether the Pool has investments 

that equal or exceed 5% of the Pool’s Net Asset Value. If so, provide the dollar value of each such investment in 

the appropriate subcategory. If the dollar value of any investment in a subcategory equals or exceeds 5% of the 

Pool’s Net Asset Value, you must itemize the investments in that subcategory.

CASH

Total Cash

At Carrying Broker

At Bank

EQUITIES Long Short

Total Listed Equities

Stocks

a. Energy and Utilities

b. Technology

c. Media

d. Telecommunication

e. Healthcare

f. Consumer Services

g. Business Services

h. Issued by Financial Institutions

i. Consumer Goods

j. Industrial Materials

Exchange Traded Funds

American Deposit Receipts

Other

Total Unlisted Equities

Unlisted Equities Issued by Financial Institutions
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

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ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS Long Short

Total Alternative Investments

Real Estate

a. Commercial

b. Residential

Private Equity

Venture Capital

Forex

Spot

a. Total Metals

i. Gold

b. Total Energy

i. Crude oil

ii. Natural gas

iii. Power

c. Other

Loans to Affiliates

Promissory Notes

Physicals

a. Total Metals

i. Gold

b. Agriculture

c. Total Energy

i. Crude oil

ii. Natural gas

iii. Power

Other
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FIXED INCOME Long Short

Total Fixed Income

Notes, Bonds and Bills

a. Corporate

i. Investment grade

ii. Non-investment grade

b. Municipal

c. Government

i. U.S. Treasury securities

ii. Agency securities

iii. Foreign (G10 countries)

iv. Foreign (all other)

d. Gov’t Sponsored

e. Convertible

i. Investment grade

ii. Non-investment grade

Certificates of Deposit

a. U.S.

b. Foreign

Asset Backed Securities

a. Mortgage Backed Securities

i. Commercial Securitizations

A. Senior or higher

B. Mezzanine

C. Junior/Equity

ii. Commercial Resecuritizations

A. Senior or higher

B. Mezzanine

C. Junior/Equity

iii. Residential Securitizations

A. Senior or higher

B. Mezzanine

C. Junior/Equity
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

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iv. Residential Resecuritizations

A. Senior or higher

B. Mezzanine

C. Junior/Equity

v. Agency Securitizations

A. Senior or higher

B. Mezzanine

C. Junior/Equity

vi. Agency Resecuritizations

A. Senior or higher

B. Mezzanine

C. Junior/Equity

b. CDO Securitizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

c. CDO Resecuritizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

d. CLOs Securitizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

e. CLO Resecuritizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

f. Credit Card Securitizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

g. Credit Card Resecuritizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

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h. Auto-Loan Securitizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

i. Auto-Loan Resecuritizations

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

j. Other

i. Senior or higher

ii. Mezzanine

iii. Junior/Equity

Repos

Reverse Repos 

DERIVATIVES Positive OTE Negative OTE

Total Derivatives

Futures 

a. Indices

i. Equity

ii. Commodity

b. Metals

i. Gold

c. Agriculture

d. Energy

i. Crude oil

ii. Natural gas

iii. Power

e. Interest Rate

f. Currency

g. Related to Financial Institutions

h. Other

Forwards
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

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Swaps

a. Interest Rate Swap

b. Equity/Index Swap

c. Dividend Swap

d. Currency Swap

e. Variance Swap

f. Credit Default Swap

i. Single name CDS

A. Related to Financial Institutions

ii. Index CDS

iii. Exotic CDS

g. OTC Swap

i. Related to Financial Institutions

h. Total Return Swap

i. Other

OPTIONS Long Option Value Short Option Value

Total Options

Futures

a. Indices

i. Equity

ii. Commodity

b. Metals

i. Gold

c. Agriculture

d. Energy

i. Crude oil

ii. Natural Gas

iii. Power

e. Interest Rate

f. Currency
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

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g. Related to Financial Institutions

h. Other

Stocks

a. Related to Financial Institutions

Customized/OTC

Physicals

a. Metals

i. Gold

b. Agriculture

c. Currency

d. Energy

i. Crude oil

ii. Natural gas

iii. Power

e. Other

FUNDS Long

Total Funds

Mutual Fund

a. U.S.

b. Foreign

NFA Listed Fund

Hedge Fund

Equity Fund

Money Market Fund

Private Equity Fund

REIT

Other Private funds

Funds and accounts other than private funds (i.e., the remainder 

of your assets under management)
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CFTC FORM CPO-PQR REPORT FOR COMMODITY POOL OPERATORS 

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ITEMIZATION

a. If the dollar value of any investment in any subcategory under the heading “Equities,” “Alternative 

Investments” or “Fixed Income” equals or exceeds 5% of the Pool’s Net Asset Value, itemize the 

investment(s) in the table below.

Subheading Description of 

Investment

Long/

Short

Cost Fair Value Year-to-Date 

Gain (Loss) 

b.If the dollar value of any investment in any subcategory under the heading “Derivatives” or “Options” equals or 

exceeds 5% of the Pool’s Net Asset Value, itemize the investment(s) in the table below.

Subheading Description of 

Investment

Long/

Short

OTE Counterparty Year-to-Date 

Gain (Loss)

c.If the dollar value of any investment in any subcategory under the heading “Funds” equals or exceeds 5% of 

the Pool’s Net Asset Value, itemize the investment(s) in the table below.

Subheading Fund Name Fund Type Fair Value Year-to-Date 

Gain (Loss)

– This Completes Form CPO-PQR –
92

OATH

BY FILING THIS REPORT, THE UNDERSIGNED AGREES THAT THE ANSWERS AND INFORMATION PROVIDED 

HEREIN are complete and accurate, and are not misleading in any material respect to the best of the undersigned’s 

knowledge and belief. Furthermore, by filing this Form CPO-PQR, the undersigned agrees that he or she knows that it 

is unlawful to sign this Form CPO-PQR if he or she knows or should know that any of the answers and information 

provided herein is not accurate and complete.

Name of the individual signing this Form CPO-PQR on behalf of the CPO:

Capacity in which the above is signing on behalf of the CPO:
93

* * * * *

Issued in Washington, DC, on October XX, 2020, by the Commission.

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,

Secretary of the Commission.