California-based Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) Accusigma Corporation, and the company's sole principal Brent Park, have both been permanently barred from the National Futures Association (NFA), after the independent regulatory association cited repeated failures to cooperate and noting rule CR 2-5 applicable to NFA member firms.
For background, during an unannounced audit that the NFA was preparing to conduct to verify statements from Park who said that Accusigma didn't conduct any business during calendar years 2012 through 2015, the NFA showed up at the address listed by the CTA - as part of a surprise audit- only to be surprised that the address was, in fact, a post office box (P.O box) and not a physical premise, and asked the CTA for further information and immediate reply.
After Unannounced Audit Attempt
Park responded a week later after saying he was out of town, and in the meantime the NFA had asked all FCMs if any accounts were held by Parks or the CTA (of which none were reported), and during the call Park said he would fully cooperate - so the NFA requested that certain documents be provided within 24 hours.
However, after Park failed to provide the documents, and after the NFA attempted to inform the CTA in follow-up communications regarding its obligation under rule 2-5, the NFA still didn't hear from the CTA until the eventual Settlement was reached in yesterday's decision.
Violation of Rule 2-5
This appears to have prompted the complaint by the NFA's business conduct committee (BCC) at the end of February, and the decision that was dated yesterday and released today in the NFA's announcement. The settlement in the complaint bars Accusigma and Park permanently from the NFA on the basis of the violation findings of rule 2-5, and apparently also the surrounding circumstances of how this was all handled.
The NFA decision also prevents Parks from serving on a future disciplinary committee, arbitration panel, oversight panel or governing board of any self-regulatory organization, based on Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ) rule 1.63.
