NFA Swells Futures, Options Fees to $0.02 for Each Trade Side

The U.S. National Futures Association (NFA) said on Wednesday it would hike its fees as the coffers of the agency that regulates the futures and Swaps industry need money to fund its operations without compromising the quality of services.

The Chicago-based regulator said that effective January 1, 2018 it would double the fee it raises on futures contracts, and options on futures contracts, from currently $0.01 to $0.02 for each side of the trade.

The latest hike marks only the fourth time in NFA's 31-year history that it has increased the fee. Conversely, the regulator has decreased the fee nine times during the past 15 years. However, in order for NFA to continue to fund its operations and maintain adequate reserves, an increase in the assessment fee has become necessary, the agency said.

The National Futures Association self-regulates futures trading, and is itself supervised by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ). Both watchdogs were given massive new responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank law, and have recently launched innovative regulatory programs, which may have resulted in a significant gap between revenue and expenses.