7 U.S.C. § 16a: Service fees and National Futures Association study

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission may develop and implement a plan to charge and collect reasonable fees to cover the estimated cost of regulating transactions under the jurisdiction of the Commission. However, prior to implementing such a plan, the Commission shall report its intention to do so to the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. The Commission shall include in its report the feasibility and desirability of collecting such fees. Any plan developed under this section shall not be implemented until approved by the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Fees collected under any plan approved under this section shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. the extent to which the National Futures Association has fully implemented the program provided in the rules approved by the Commission under section 17(p) and (q) of the Commodity Exchange Act [ 7 U.S.C. 21(p) , (q)] and the effectiveness of the operation of such program; the actual and projected cost savings to the Federal Government, if any, resulting from operations of the National Futures Association; the actual and projected costs which the Commission and the public would have incurred if the Association had not undertaken self-regulatory responsibility for certain areas under the Commission’s jurisdiction; problem areas, if any, encountered by the Association; the nature of the working relationship between the Association and the Commission; an assessment of the actual and projected efficiencies the Commission has achieved or expects to be achieved as a result of the continuing regulatory activities of the Association; and the immediate and projected capabilities of the Commission at the time of submission of the study to turn its attention to more immediate problems of regulation, as a result of the activities of the Association. Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the Commission to promulgate, after notice and opportunity for hearing, a schedule of appropriate fees to be charged for services rendered and activities and functions performed by the Commission in conjunction with its administration and enforcement of the Commodity Exchange Act [ 7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.]: Provided , That the fees for any specified service or activity or function shall not exceed the actual cost thereof to the Commission.