National Supervisory Authority & Licensing Qualification Dossier • North America
NFA
United StatesNational Futures Association
Source / Native Reference: 美国全国期货协会
- Supervisory tier
- Tier-2
- License classes
- 3
- Licensed records
- 13
- Active / regulated
- 9
Statutory Supervisory Mandate & Scope
National Futures Association (NFA) is a Tier-2 derivatives, commodities, and market-infrastructure supervisory body in United States. It regulates futures commission merchants, derivatives dealers, clearing members, and exchange-traded contract execution, enforcing margin adequacy, position limits, trade reporting, and segregated client collateral protections.
Regulates Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs), Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers (RFEDs), Swap Dealers (SDs), Commodity Pool Operators (CPOs), Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs), Designated Contract Markets (DCMs), and Derivatives Clearing Organizations (DCOs).
Prudential Tier Assessment
Tier-2Exclusive U.S. federal derivatives, futures, options, retail off-exchange FX (RFED), and swaps prudential supervisor under the Commodity Exchange Act.
National licensing qualifications & statutory authorisation classes (NFA)
Authorisation categories, permitted institutional and retail activities, minimum initial capital adequacy, and ongoing prudential solvency rules enforced by NFA in United States.
| License class / code | Official designation | Permitted institutional & retail activities | Minimum initial / base capital | Ongoing prudential & solvency rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCM / RFED | Futures Commission Merchant & Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer | Soliciting or accepting orders for exchange-traded futures/options or acting as counterparty to U.S. retail off-exchange FX transactions, holding customer margin. | USD $1,000,000 minimum Adjusted Net Capital for FCMs (plus 8% of customer/non-customer risk maintenance margin); USD $20,000,000 minimum Adjusted Net Capital for RFEDs (plus 5% of retail FX liabilities exceeding $10M). | CFTC Reg 1.17 / NFA Financial Requirements Section 1 & 11; 50:1 (2% margin) maximum leverage cap on major G10 FX pairs and 20:1 (5%) on minor pairs. |
| SD / MSP | Provisional / Registered Swap Dealer | Dealing and market-making in interest rate swaps, FX swaps/NDFs, credit default swaps, equity swaps, and commodity swaps above the USD $8B de minimis threshold. | USD $20,000,000 minimum Common Equity Tier 1 / Tentative Net Capital (or 8% of Uncleared Swap Margin under CFTC Reg 23.101). | Mandatory two-way Variation Margin & UMR Initial Margin (SIMM), Part 43/45 real-time SDR swap data reporting, and Chief Compliance Officer annual report. |
| CPO / CTA | Commodity Pool Operator & Commodity Trading Advisor | Operating pooled investment funds trading commodity interests or providing discretionary/systematic managed futures and volatility trading advice. | No fixed statutory net capital for standalone CPO/CTA (unless also registered as FCM/RFED); Principals must pass Series 3 & Series 30 exams. | Quarterly Form CPO-PQR / CTA-PR filings, NFA Bylaw 1101 due diligence, and annual certified pool financial statements. |
Investor compensation, client money segregation & digital-asset regime
Statutory counterparty protections, custody reconciliation mandates, and virtual-asset licensing status under NFA.
CEA Section 4d Statutory Customer Segregation & Bankruptcy Priority (17 CFR Part 190)
- Maximum coverage per client
- First-priority pro-rata statutory distribution of Segregated Customer Funds (no SIPC cash insurance; protected via strict LSOC / CEA 4d segregation)
- Eligible counterparties & scope
- Cleared futures, options on futures, and cleared swap customers (Note: Retail FX / RFED accounts are unsecured obligations under CFTC Rule 5.7 disclosure).
CEA Section 4d(a)(2) & CFTC Regulations 1.20–1.30 (Futures) / 22.2 (LSOC Cleared Swaps)
- Reconciliation & audit cadence
- Daily Segregated Statement computation by 12:00 PM ET; Residual Interest target buffer maintained in segregated accounts.
- Approved custodian requirements
- U.S. FDIC-insured bank, trust company, or CFTC-registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (CME, ICE, OCC) with written acknowledgment letters.
Commodity Digital Asset Derivatives (BTC / ETH Futures, Options & Perpetuals) & DCM/DCO Registration
- Travel Rule, custody & stablecoin rules
- DCO-supervised digital asset custody for physically delivered contracts; full Bank Secrecy Act / FinCEN AML program mandatory for FCMs and IBs.
Primary Governing Statutes & Rulebooks
- Commodity Exchange Act (CEA, 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.) & Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act Title VII
- CFTC Regulation 1.17 (Minimum Adjusted Net Capital) & Regulation 1.20 (Customer Segregated Funds)
- CFTC Part 5 (Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers) & Part 23 (Swap Dealers Capital & Margin)
- NFA Financial Requirements Sections 1–16 & Compliance Rule 2-36
Regulatory Reporting & Audit Obligations
Daily segregation/secured amount statement filings and monthly 1-FR-FCM / FOCUS reports to CFTC and NFAReal-time Swap Data Repository (SDR) reporting under CFTC Parts 43 & 45 and Large Trader Reporting (Form 102)Annual independent audit by a PCAOB-registered CPA firm and annual NFA self-examination checklist
Cross-Border Equivalence & Passporting
Non-U.S. exchanges and clearinghouses require CFTC Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) registration or Part 30 (Rule 30.10) comparability exemption.
Supervised institutions & NFA licence records in our database
13 licence records referencing NFA (9 regulated/registered, 4 flagged with warnings/revocations).
| Institution | Licence number | Status | Licensed legal entity | Effective date | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OANDA | 0325821 | Regulated | OANDA CORPORATION | 2003-03-14 | |
| Forex | 0339826 | Regulated | GAIN CAPITAL GROUP LLC | 2004-07-29 | |
| Robinhood | 0424278 | Regulated | ROBINHOOD DERIVATIVES LLC | — | |
| StoneX | 0501390 | Regulated | StoneX Financial Inc. | 2015 | |
| ATC Brokers | 0358522 | Registered | ATC BROKERS | 2005-09-08 | |
| Straits Financial Group | 0425918 | Registered | STRAITS FINANCIAL LLC | — | |
| AMP Global | 0412490 | Exceeded scope | AMP Global Clearing LLC | — | |
| Seventy Brokers | 0515151 | Unauthorised | SEVENTY INVESTECH CO LIMITED | — | |
| Kyte(Global network record) | 0288293 | Exceeded scope | KYTE BROKING LIMITED | — | |
| CANNON(Global network record) | 0216708 | Regulated | CANNON TRADING COMPANY INC | — | |
| E TRADE(Global network record) | 0320906 | Suspected clone | E TRADE SECURITIES LLC | — | |
| tastyfx(Global network record) | 0509630 | Regulated | TASTYFX LLC TASTYFX | 2018-10-15 | |
| TD Amertriade(Global network record) | 0328552 | Regulated | TD Amertriade | 2019-07-16 |
NFA (United States): institutional licensing & due diligence FAQ
Key statutory capital, compensation, custody segregation, and verification answers for compliance teams.
What are the primary licensing classes and minimum capital requirements under NFA (United States)?
NFA (National Futures Association) supervises financial institutions in United States under Commodity Exchange Act (CEA, 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.) & Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act Title VII and CFTC Regulation 1.17 (Minimum Adjusted Net Capital) & Regulation 1.20 (Customer Segregated Funds). Key statutory authorisation classes include: FCM / RFED (Futures Commission Merchant & Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer — min. capital: USD $1,000,000 minimum Adjusted Net Capital for FCMs (plus 8% of customer/non-customer risk maintenance margin); USD $20,000,000 minimum Adjusted Net Capital for RFEDs (plus 5% of retail FX liabilities exceeding $10M).); SD / MSP (Provisional / Registered Swap Dealer — min. capital: USD $20,000,000 minimum Common Equity Tier 1 / Tentative Net Capital (or 8% of Uncleared Swap Margin under CFTC Reg 23.101).); CPO / CTA (Commodity Pool Operator & Commodity Trading Advisor — min. capital: No fixed statutory net capital for standalone CPO/CTA (unless also registered as FCM/RFED); Principals must pass Series 3 & Series 30 exams.). Ongoing prudential supervision requires strict adherence to capital adequacy and liquidity buffers.
Does NFA provide statutory investor compensation and mandatory client asset segregation?
Under NFA's framework, investor protection is governed by CEA Section 4d Statutory Customer Segregation & Bankruptcy Priority (17 CFR Part 190) with maximum coverage of First-priority pro-rata statutory distribution of Segregated Customer Funds (no SIPC cash insurance; protected via strict LSOC / CEA 4d segregation) (Cleared futures, options on futures, and cleared swap customers (Note: Retail FX / RFED accounts are unsecured obligations under CFTC Rule 5.7 disclosure).). For client money and custody assets, supervised firms must comply with CEA Section 4d(a)(2) & CFTC Regulations 1.20–1.30 (Futures) / 22.2 (LSOC Cleared Swaps), performing daily segregated statement computation by 12:00 pm et; residual interest target buffer maintained in segregated accounts. with u.s. fdic-insured bank, trust company, or cftc-registered derivatives clearing organization (cme, ice, occ) with written acknowledgment letters..
How does NFA regulate digital assets, crypto exchanges (VASPs/CASPs), and stablecoins?
NFA's digital-asset regime is structured around Commodity Digital Asset Derivatives (BTC / ETH Futures, Options & Perpetuals) & DCM/DCO Registration (Active supervision of regulated crypto futures/options exchanges (CME, Coinbase Derivatives, Bitnomial) and digital commodity enforcement.). Custody and AML/CFT compliance obligations require: DCO-supervised digital asset custody for physically delivered contracts; full Bank Secrecy Act / FinCEN AML program mandatory for FCMs and IBs.
How can I verify an institution's NFA licence number and check our 13 recorded licence entries?
Our database currently tracks 13 licence records referencing NFA (9 marked regulated or registered). To verify a counterparty at the primary source, open NFA's official public register (https://www.nfa.futures.org/), search by the exact reference number and legal entity name, and confirm that the firm's domain and permitted activities match its statutory authorisation.
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Statutory licensing classes, base capital rules, and investor protection summaries for NFA (United States) are maintained for institutional benchmarking and do not constitute legal advice. Always verify current rulebooks and active firm authorisations directly on NFA’s official public register.