The US National Futures Association (NFA) has ordered Spartan Asset Group LLC, an NFA Member commodity trading advisor located in Michigan, to withdraw from and not reapply for NFA membership.

The Decision, issued by an NFA Hearing Panel, is based on a Complaint issued by NFA’s Business Conduct Committee and a settlement offer submitted by Spartan, in which the firm neither admitted nor denied the allegations.

In the Complaint, the Committee alleged that Spartan used promotional material that the firm knew or should have known was deficient, in violation of the promotional material requirements under NFA Compliance Rule 2-29 and the just and equitable principles of trade requirement under NFA Compliance Rule 2-4.

The Complaint alleges that Spartan and John Perry, a principal of Spartan, failed to label hypothetical performance results presented on the firm’s website as hypothetical and did not include the prescribed disclaimer on the limitations of hypothetical results or any of the material assumptions made in preparing the hypothetical results, in violation of NFA Compliance Rules 2-29(cXl) and 2-29(cX5).

The Complaint also alleges that Spartan and Perry did not include a discussion on the risk of loss or state that past results aro not necessarily indicative of future results on areas of the firm’s website containing references to actual trading profits, in violation of NFA Compliance Rules 2-29(bl(3) and 2-29(b)(4).

In addition, the Complaint alleges that Spartan and Perry could not demonstrate to NFA that the performance results presented on the firm’s website for four of its trading programs were representative of actual performance experienced by accounts traded pursuant to those programs, in violation of NFA Compliance Rule 2-29(bX5).

Finally, the Complaint alleges that Spartan and Perry continued to use deficient promotional material even though they knew or should have known it was deficient, in violation of NFA Compliance Rule 2-4.