[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 17, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 17CFR12.2]

[Page 268-270]
 
              TITLE 17--COMMODITY AND SECURITIES EXCHANGES
 
             CHAPTER I--COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
 
PART 12_RULES RELATING TO REPARATIONS--Table of Contents
 
Subpart A_General Information and Preliminary Consideration of Pleadings
 
Sec.  12.2  Definitions.

For purposes of this part:
    Act means the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 1, et 
seq.;
    Administrative Law Judge means an administrative law judge appointed 
pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 3105;
    Commission means the Commodity Futures Trading Commission;
    Commission decisional employee means an employee or employees of the 
Commission who are or may reasonably be expected to be involved in the 
decisionmaking process in any proceeding, including, but not limited to: 
A Judgment Officer; members of the personal staffs of the Commissioners, 
but not the Commissioners themselves; members of the staffs of the 
Administrative Law Judges, but not an Administrative Law Judge; members 
of the staffs of the Judgment Officers; members of the Office of the 
General Counsel; members of the staff of the Office of Proceedings; and 
other Commission employees who may be assigned to hear or to participate 
in the decision of a particular matter.
    Complainant means a person who, individually or jointly with others, 
has applied to the Commission for a reparation award pursuant to section 
14(a) of the Act, but shall not include a cross claimant or any other 
type of third party claimant. The term ``complainant'' under these rules 
applies equally to two or more persons who have applied jointly for a 
reparation award;
    Complaint means any document which constitutes an application for a 
reparation award pursuant to section 14(a) of the Act, regardless of 
whether it is denominated as such;
    Counterclaim means an application for a reparation award by a 
respondent against a complainant which satisfies the requirements of 
Sec.  12.19. A counterclaim does not mean a cross claim or other type of 
third party claim;
    Director of the Office of Proceedings means an employee of the 
Commission who serves as the administrative head of that Office, with 
responsibility and authority to assure that these part 12 Reparation 
Rules are administered in a manner which will effectuate the purposes of 
section 14(b) of the Act. The Director is authorized to convene meetings 
of all personnel in the Office of Proceedings, including Administrative 
Law Judges and their personally assigned law clerks. The Director shall 
have the authority to delegate his duties to administer Sec. Sec.  
12.15, 12.24, 12.26 and 12.27, and, shall have the authority to assign 
and, if necessary, reassign the duties of, and set reasonable standards 
for performance for, all personnel in the Office, including the Judgment 
Officers, but not including Administrative Law Judges and their 
personally assigned law clerks;
    Ex parte communication means an oral or written communication not on 
the public record with respect to which reasonable prior notice to all 
parties is not given, but does not include:
    (1) A discussion, after consent has been obtained from all of the 
named parties, between a party and a Judgment Officer or Administrative 
Law Judge, or the staffs of the foregoing, pertaining solely to the 
possibility of

[[Page 269]]

settling the case without the need for a decision;
    (2) Requests for status reports, including questions relating to 
service of the complaint, and the registration status of any persons, on 
any matter or proceeding covered by these rules; or
    (3) Requests made to the Office of Proceedings or the Office of the 
General Counsel for interpretation of these rules.
    Formal decisional procedure means, where the amount of total damages 
claimed exceeds $30,000, exclusive of interest and costs, a procedure 
elected by the complainant or a respondent where the parties may be 
granted an oral hearing. A formal decisional proceeding is governed by 
subpart E;
    Hearing means that part of a proceeding which involves the 
submission of proof, either by oral presentation or written submission;
    Interested person means any party, and includes any person or agency 
permitted limited participation or to state views in a reparation 
proceeding, or other person who might be adversely affected or aggrieved 
by the outcome of a proceeding (including the officers, agents, 
employees, associates, affiliates, attorneys, accountants or other 
representatives of such persons), and any other person having a direct 
or indirect pecuniary or other interest in the outcome of a proceeding;
    Judgment Officer means an employee of the Commission who is 
authorized to conduct the proceeding and render a decision in a summary 
decisional proceeding or a voluntary decisional proceeding. In 
appropriate circumstances, the functions of a Judgment Officer may be 
performed by an Administrative Law Judge;
    Office of the General Counsel refers to the members of the 
Commission's staff who provide assistance to the Commission in its 
direct review of any proceeding conducted pursuant to these rules;
    Office of Proceedings means that Office within the Commission 
comprised of the Administrative Law Judges, Judgment Officers, the 
Director of that Office, the Proceedings Clerk, and members of the 
staffs of the foregoing, which administers these part 12 Reparation 
Rules, other than the rules authorizing direct review by the Commission;
    Order means the whole or any part of a final procedural or 
substantive disposition of a reparation proceeding by the Commission, an 
Administrative Law Judge, a Judgment Officer, or the Proceedings Clerk;
    Party means a complainant, respondent or any other person or agency 
named or admitted as a party in a reparation matter;
    Person means any individual, association, partnership, corporation 
or trust;
    Pleading means the complaint, the answer to the complaint, any 
supplement or amendment thereto, and any reply to the foregoing;
    Proceeding means a case in which the pleadings have been forwarded 
and in which a procedure has been commenced pursuant to Sec.  12.26;
    Proceedings Clerk means that member of the Commission's staff in the 
Office of Proceedings who shall maintain the Commission's reparation 
docket, assign reparation cases to an appropriate decisionmaking 
official, and act as custodian of the records of proceedings;
    Punitive damages means damages awarded (no more than two times the 
amount of actual damages) in the case of any action arising from a 
willful and intentional violation in the execution of an order on the 
floor of a contract market. An order does not have to be actually 
executed to render a violation subject to punitive damages. As a 
prerequisite to an award of punitive damages, a complainant must claim 
actual and punitive damages, prove actual damages, and demonstrate that 
punitive damages are appropriate;
    Registrant means any person who--
    (1) Was registered under the Act at the time of the alleged 
violation;
    (2) Is subject to reparation proceedings by virtue of section 4m of 
the Commodity Exchange Act, regardless of whether such person was ever 
registered under the Act; or
    (3) Is otherwise subject to reparation proceedings under the Act;
    Reparation award means the amount of monetary damages a party may be 
ordered to pay;
    Respondent means any person or persons against whom a complainant

[[Page 270]]

seeks a reparation award pursuant to section 14(a) of the Act;
    Summary decisional procedure means, where the amount of total 
damages claimed does not exceed $30,000, exclusive of interest and 
costs, a procedure elected by the complainant or the respondent wherein 
an oral hearing need not be held and proof in support of each party's 
case may be supplied in the form and manner prescribed by Sec.  12.208. 
A summary decisional proceeding is governed by subpart D;
    Voluntary decisional procedure means, regardless of the amount of 
damages claimed, a procedure which the complainant and the respondent 
have chosen voluntarily to submit their claims and counterclaims, 
allowable under these rules, for an expeditious resolution by a Judgment 
Officer. By electing the voluntary decisional procedure, parties agree 
that a decision issued by a Judgment Officer shall be without 
accompanying findings of fact and shall be final without right of 
Commission review or judicial review. A voluntary decisional proceeding 
is governed by subpart C of these rules.

[59 FR 9635, Mar. 1, 1994]