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Title 7 — AgricultureRelease 119-73not60

§10a Cooperative Associations and Corporations, Exclusion From Board of Trade; Rules of Board Inapplicable to Payment of Compensation by Association

Title 7 › Chapter 1— COMMODITY EXCHANGES › § 10a

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

Boards of trade that are registered as contract markets or as derivatives trading facilities must let cooperative associations or corporations that do cash commodity business join and use the market if the co-op has enough financial responsibility and is formed under state cooperative law or officially recognized as a producer cooperative by the U.S. government. The co-op must agree to follow the same lawful rules and conditions other members follow. A board can only exclude a co-op if the Commodity Futures Trading Commission allows it after a hearing given at least three days’ notice after the board files a complaint. If a co-op fails to meet its duties to a contract market’s clearing house or clearing agency, it is automatically barred from trading except to close or settle existing contracts under market rules. The Commission can order membership continued (with or without conditions) or allow immediate barring. Its orders may be appealed to the court of appeals under the procedure in section 8(b), but the order is not stayed during the appeal. No rule of such a board may forbid a federated cooperative association from paying its regional member-associations for services (including payments based on commodity units) for organizing, education, or getting patronage, so long as none of that pay is given back to patrons except as a dividend on capital stock or as a patronage dividend from net earnings or surplus.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §10a

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)No board of trade which has been designated or registered as a contract market or a derivatives transaction execution facility exclude 11 So in original. Probably should read “shall exclude”. from membership in, and all privileges on, such board of trade, any association or corporation engaged in cash commodity business having adequate financial responsibility which is organized under the cooperative laws of any State, or which has been recognized as a cooperative association of producers by the United States Government or by any agency thereof, if such association or corporation complies and agrees to comply with such terms and conditions as are or may be imposed lawfully upon other members of such board, and as are or may be imposed lawfully upon a cooperative association of producers engaged in cash commodity business, unless such board of trade is authorized by the commission to exclude such association or corporation from membership and privileges after hearing held upon at least three days’ notice subsequent to the filing of complaint by the board of trade: Provided, however, That if any such association or corporation shall fail to meet its obligations with any established clearing house or clearing agency of any contract market, such association or corporation shall be ipso facto debarred from further trading on such contract market, except such trading as may be necessary to close open trades and to discharge existing contracts in accordance with the rules of such contract market applicable in such cases. Such commission may prescribe that such association or corporation shall have and retain membership and privileges, with or without imposing conditions, or it may permit such board of trade immediately to bar such association or corporation from membership and privileges. Any order of said commission entered hereunder shall be reviewable by the court of appeals for the circuit in which such association or corporation, or such board of trade, has its principal place of business, on written petition either of such association or corporation, or of such board of trade, under the procedure provided in section 8(b) of this title, but such order shall not be stayed by the court pending review.
(b)No rule of any board of trade designated or registered as a contract market or a derivatives transaction execution facility shall forbid or be construed to forbid the payment of compensation on a commodity-unit basis, or otherwise, by any federated cooperative association to its regional member-associations for services rendered or to be rendered in connection with any organization work, educational activity, or procurement of patronage, provided no part of any such compensation is returned to patrons (whether members or nonmembers) of such cooperative association, or of its regional or local member-associations, otherwise than as a dividend on capital stock or as a patronage dividend out of the net earnings or surplus of such federated cooperative association.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2000—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(5) [title I, § 123(a)(13)(A)], substituted “designated or registered as a contract market or a derivatives transaction execution facility” for “designated as a ‘contract market’ shall”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(5) [title I, § 123(a)(13)(B)], substituted “designated or registered as a contract market or a derivatives transaction execution facility” for “designated as a contract market”. 1992—Pub. L. 102–546 redesignated subsecs. (1) and (2) as (a) and (b), respectively, and in subsec. (a) substituted reference to section 8(b) of this title for reference to section 8 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Act
June 25, 1948, as amended by act
May 24, 1949, substituted “court of appeals” for “circuit court of appeals” wherever appearing.

Effective Date

For

Effective Date

of section, see section 13 of act June 15, 1936, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1936 Amendment note under section 1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 10a

Title 7 — Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 3, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60