National Futures Association reminds its members that they have non-routine or occasional obligations they can easily overlook.  To help jog their memories, NFA offers this list of obligations and requirements for 2011 [N.B.  not necessarily complete]: 

1. Complete the Annual Update process on the anniversary date of your firm's registration ...  which includes:  (i) electronic Annual Registration Update;  (ii) Annual Questionnaire;  (iii) annual registration fees and NFA dues.  There's a 30-day window. 
2. Complete NFA's Self-Examination Checklist ...  on NFA website.
3. Send your firm's Privacy Policy to every current customer, client and pool participant, ... as well as to every new customer.
4. Test your Disaster Recovery Plan ... and make any necessary adjustments. Before starting, refer to NFA's Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan questionnaire. 
   
5. Provide Ethics Training ... as outlined in your firm's written Ethics Training Procedures.  Refer to NFA's Ethics Training Policy questionnaire.  
6. Supervise Branch Operations, ... which means annual onsite inspections for every branch.

    Reminders for All Firms, as well as CTA's, CPO's, IB's, FCM's.   NFA offers specific requirements and obligations for several registration categories, including:  CTA's, CPO's, IB's, FCM's.  They also provide these reminders for every firm: 

• must register as an FCM, RFED, IB, CPO or CTA in connection with its FOREX activity.
• must be approved by NFA as a FOREX firm.
• NFA members prohibited from engaging in retail Forex transactions with these firms unless firm has received this designation.
• FOREX firms must have at least 1 principal who's registered as an Associated Person (AP) and is approved as a FOREX AP.
• individuals who solicit retail FOREX business and their supervisers must have Series 3 and 34 Licenses - the National Commodity Futures Examination (Series 3) and the Retail Off Exchange Forex Examination (Series 34), which is a new exam focusing exclusively on Forex-related questions.
• individuals who were registered as APs, sole proprietors or floor brokers on 5/22/08, do not need to take the Series 34 exam unless there's been a 2-year gap in their registration since that date.

For complete details, go to:   [NFA NtM 11-06, 2/3/11]