National Futures Association

About NFA

National Futures Association is the industry-wide self-regulatory organisation for the United States derivatives industry. It was designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a registered futures association in 1981 and began its regulatory operations in 1982. NFA oversees registered firms and individuals conducting futures, options, swaps and retail off-exchange forex business with the investing public. Its regulated membership includes futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, commodity pool operators, commodity trading advisors, retail foreign exchange dealers, forex dealer members, swap dealers and other derivatives professionals. Its principal responsibilities include registration screening, compliance examinations, financial surveillance, market and trade-practice supervision, rule enforcement, investor education, complaint processing and arbitration. NFA also operates the BASIC database, through which the public can check registration status, membership records and disciplinary actions. For retail forex, NFA supervises registered Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers and Forex Dealer Members under the broader regulatory framework of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. NFA is not a federal government agency; it is an industry self-regulatory organisation operating under CFTC oversight.