Glossary

Designated Self-Regulatory Organization

See Also:

Designated Self-Regulatory Organization: Self-regulatory organizations (i.e., the commodity exchanges and registered futures associations) must enforce minimum financial and reporting requirements for their members, among other responsibilities outlined in the CFTC's regulations. When a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) is a member of more than one Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO), the Self-Regulatory Organizations may decide among themselves which of them will be primarily responsible for enforcing minimum financial and sales practice requirements. The SRO will be appointed Designated Self-Regulatory Organization (DSRO) for that particular Futures Commission Merchant. National Futures Association (NFA) is the DSRO for all non-exchange member Futures Commission Merchants.

CFTC: CFTC abbreviation stands for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission which is the federal regulatory agency established in 1974 that administers the Commodity Exchange Act. The CFTC monitors the futures and options on futures markets in the United States.

Commission: Commission is a fee charged by a broker or brokerage house (company) to a customer (trader) for executing a transaction. In the future market commission is
1) The charge made by a futures commission merchant for buying and selling futures contracts;
2) the fee charged by a futures broker for the execution of an order. Note: when capitalized, the word Commission usually refers to the CFTC.

Commodity: A commodity, as defined in the Commodity Exchange Act, includes the agricultural commodities enumerated in Section 1a(4) of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 USC 1a(4), and all other goods and articles, except onions as provided in Public Law 85-839 (7 USC 13-1), a 1958 law that banned futures trading in onions, and all services, rights, and interests in which contracts for future delivery are presently or in the future dealt in.

Exchange: A central marketplace with established rules and regulations where buyers and sellers meet to trade futures and options contracts or securities. Exchanges include designated contract markets and derivatives transaction execution facilities.

Futures: Futures (also called Futures Contract) is a legally binding agreement to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument at a later date. Futures contracts are normally standardized according to the quality, quantity, delivery time and location for each commodity, with price as the only variable.

Mini: Mini (e-Mini) refers to a futures contract that has a smaller contract size than an otherwise identical futures contract.

Mini: Mini (e-Mini) refers to a futures contract that has a smaller contract size than an otherwise identical futures contract.

Par: Par refers to the standard delivery point(s) and/or quality of a commodity that is deliverable on a futures contract at contract price. Serves as a benchmark upon which to base discounts or premiums for varying quality and delivery locations. Par in bond markets refers to an index (usually 100) representing the face value of a bond.

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