17 C.F.R. § 3.1 Definitions.
Title 17 - Commodity and Securities Exchanges
(a) Principal. Principal means, with respect to an applicant for registration, a registrant or a person required to be registered under the Act or these regulations: (1) If the entity is organized as a sole proprietorship, the proprietor; if a partnership, any general partner; if a corporation, any director, the president, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and any person in charge of a principal business unit, division or function subject to regulation by the Commission; if a limited liability company or limited liability partnership, any director, the president, chief executive officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer, the manager, managing member or those members vested with the management authority for the entity, and any person in charge of a principal business unit, division or function subject to regulation by the Commission; and, in addition, any person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions, having the power, directly or indirectly, through agreement or otherwise, to exercise a controlling influence over the entity's activities that are subject to regulation by the Commission; (2)(i) Any individual who directly or indirectly, through agreement, holding company, nominee, trust or otherwise, is the owner of ten percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of stock, is entitled to vote or has the power to sell or direct the sale of ten percent or more of any class of voting securities, or is entitled to receive ten percent or more of the profits; or (ii) Any person other than an individual that is the direct owner of ten percent or more of any class of securities; or (3) Any person who has contributed ten percent or more of the capital: Provided, however, That if such capital contribution consists of subordinated debt contributed by an unaffiliated bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, United States branch or agency of an unaffiliated foreign bank that is licensed under the laws of the United States and regulated, supervised and examined by United States government authorities having regulatory responsibility for such financial institutions, or insurance company subject to regulation by any State, such bank, branch, agency or insurance company will not be deemed to be a principal for purposes of this section, provided such debt is not guaranteed by another party not listed as a principal. (b) Current. As used in this subpart, a Form 8–R is current if, subsequent to the filing of that form and continuously thereafter, the registrant or principal has been either registered or affiliated with a registrant as a principal. (c) Sponsor. Sponsor means the futures commission merchant, introducing broker, commodity trading advisor, commodity pool operator or leverage transaction merchant which makes the certification required by §3.12 of this part for the registration of an associated person of such sponsor. (d) Beneficial owner. Any person who, without limitation, directly or indirectly, creates or uses a trust, proxy, power of attorney, pooling arrangement or any other contract, arrangement, or device with the purpose or effect of divesting such person of beneficial ownership of a security or preventing the vesting of such beneficial ownership, or of avoiding making a contribution of ten percent or more of the capital, as part of a plan or scheme to evade being deemed a principal of an applicant or registrant under paragraph (a) of this section shall be deemed for purposes of such paragraph to be the beneficial owner or the contributor of capital. (e) Foreign futures authority. Foreign futures authority means any foreign government, or any department, agency, governmental body, or regulatory organization empowered by a foreign government to administer or enforce a law, rule, or regulation as it relates to a futures or options matter, or any department or agency of a political subdivision of a foreign government empowered to administer or enforce a law, rule or regulation as it relates to a futures or options matter. (f) Commodity interest. Commodity interest means: (1) Any contract for the purchase or sale of a commodity for future delivery regulated under the Act and rules promulgated thereunder; and (2) Any contract, agreement or transaction subject to Commission regulation under sections 4c or 19 of the Act. [49 FR 5521, Feb. 13, 1984, and 49 FR 8217, Mar. 5, 1984, as amended at 49 FR 39530, Oct. 9, 1984; 57 FR 23144, June 2, 1992; 66 FR 53518, Oct. 23, 2001]
Title 17: Commodity and Securities Exchanges
PART 3—REGISTRATION
Subpart A—Registration
§ 3.1 Definitions.
