Effective Wednesday, September 30, 2015, Nasdaq Futures, Inc. (NFX) Clearing Futures Participants, futures commission merchants, and foreign brokers (collectively “Reporting Firms”) are required to report information to NFX on behalf of those accounts carried on their books that meet a reportable level as specified herein.

This alert provides additional technical specificity with respect to a previous Futures Regulatory Alert, #2015-3, which provided implementation details in connection with the Ownership and Control Reports (OCR) Final Rule (OCR Rule) issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

As a reminder, CFTC regulations require Forms 102A and 102B to be filed with the CFTC to identify each reportable account. Form 102A generally must be submitted by 10:00 a.m. ET the business day after the establishment of the reportable level. Form 102B generally must also be submitted by 10:00 a.m. ET on the business day following the business day on which the reportable trading volume threshold is first triggered.

If an account becomes reportable in products listed on NFX and a Form 102A or Form 102B has already been filed for that account (as a result of becoming reportable at another exchange), the firm carrying the account must file with NFX a copy of the previously filed form.

If and when the information required in a previously submitted Form 102A or Form 102B changes, and the reportable trader in question continues to have a reportable level, the Reporting Firm carrying the account has the responsibility to file an updated Form 102A or Form 102B, as applicable, with the CFTC and NFX.

Compliance Dates

Form 102A and 102B submissions to NFX will have a compliance date that is same as the CFTC compliance date of September 30, 2015. With respect to Form 102B, NFX’s volume thresholds are the same as the quantity thresholds established by the CFTC. Starting on September 30, 2015, all new Form 102A submissions to NFX must be submitted in the new format.  With respect to Form 71, the CFTC’s compliance date is February 11, 2016; therefore, NFX’s compliance date for electronic submission of Form 71 will also be February 11, 2016.

Should the CFTC grant any further no-action relief that extends any of the compliance dates set forth above, NFX will defer the applicable compliance date(s) in line with any relief granted by the CFTC regarding the submission of these forms to the CFTC.

XML-Based OCR Reporting

For the submission of Forms 102A, 102B, and 71, NFX will take in the XML formatted files (as specified in the OCR Rule). 

Production XML files can be submitted with the following filename:

OCRFORM_102_FIRMID_YYYYMMDD_E_FILEID.xml[.zip]

OCRFORM_71_FIRMID_YYYYMMDD_E_FILEID.xml[.zip]

File Name Component	Mandatory	Description
FIRMID	Yes	CFTC ID for the reporting firm
YYYYMMDD	Yes	Reporting date
FILEID	Yes	Identification to provide uniqueness in the file name for the reporting date. Reporters may use either time (HHMMSS) or another unique alphanumeric string
.xml	Yes	The XML file extension
.zip	No	File extension to be used if the reporter sends the file in a zip format. The zip file must contain only one file.

Reporting Firms planning to submit OCR data using XML formatted files must have connectivity to the NFX SFTP server.  Please contact NFX Market Operations to establish connectivity to the SFTP server at nfxops@nasdaq.com or visit the NFX SFTP Service webpage. Additional information from the CFTC may be found on the OCR webpage.

Content and Timing of Reporting to NFX

Reporting Firms are required to concurrently file with NFX in the manner described above a copy of all Form 102A, Form 102B, and Form 71 submissions (including any attachments, related submissions, or related information) relating to NFX Contracts that the Reporting Firm is required to report to the CFTC pursuant to CFTC regulations.

Firms Using the FIA Tech OCR Data Service

Firms that are using the FIA Tech OCR Data Service to file Forms 102A and 102B with the CFTC can use the same Service to file with NFX. For more information on using the Data Service to report to multiple destinations, please contact FIA Tech at +1 202 772 3088.

Form 71

The CFTC may request, in its discretion, a special call for identification of omnibus accounts and sub-accounts (Form 71) when a volume threshold account is identified as a customer omnibus account on Form 102B. This request will be made by the CFTC to the originating firm for the account. An originating firm that is requested to submit Form 71 to the CFTC must also submit Form 71 to NFX.