Reparations Proceedings

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) administers a reparations program, which is designed to provide an inexpensive, expeditious, fair and impartial forum to handle customer complaints and resolve disputes between futures customers and commodity futures trading professionals. This post is designed to provide a general description of the reparation process and is not designed to be complete in all material respects. This information is being provided for educational purposes only and should not be considered or relied upon as legal advice.

For the most part, a CFTC reparations proceeding is an alternative method to an NFA arbitration to resolve disputes between futures customers and commodity futures trading professionals. While both reparation proceedings and NFA arbitrations are designed to provide an inexpensive and expeditious forum to resolve futures disputes, the reality of the situation is that reparation proceedings are usually more expensive and lengthy than an NFA arbitration.

If you are a futures or options customer, or a leverage contract customer, and you have a dispute with your futures trading professional that you cannot resolve, you may be able to use the reparations program if you meet the qualifications outlined here.

If you take a look at the rules relating to reparation proceedings, the reader can see that a reparations proceeding more closely resembles a lawsuit rather than an arbitration matter. See Part 12 of CFTC’s regulations, 17 CFR 12.

If you need legal guidance and advocacy regarding reparations proceedings, attorney Russell L. Forkey is here to protect your rights and interests. To arrange your initial consultation, call the firm at 561-406-4644 or contact us online.