[author: Kenneth M. Rosenzweig, Kevin M. Foley and Blake J. Brockway]

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight has issued guidance clarifying that futures commission merchants (FCMs) may not maintain customer segregated funds (i.e., customer funds deposited to margin contracts traded on US-designated contract markets) and secured funds (i.e., customer funds deposited to margin contracts traded on foreign boards of trade) in a single customer omnibus account with a carrying FCM. CFTC Rules 1.20 and 30.7 require an FCM to hold customer segregated funds and secured funds in separate omnibus accounts, with each account properly titled as required under CFTC Rule 1.20 or Rule 30.7, respectively. FCMs must also obtain account acknowledgement letters for each account.

The CFTC guidance letter is available here.