On April 17, 2025, the CFTC issued a staff advisory (Advisory) in an effort to provide greater clarity with regard to the criteria that its operating divisions will use when assessing whether to refer registered entities’ self-reported violations to the Division of Enforcement (DOE). The Advisory came on the heels of a February 25, 2025, enforcement advisory (Enforcement Advisory) that sought to promote self-reporting through a number of incentives, including giving entities the option of reporting violations to any of the CFTC’s operating divisions, rather than directly to the DOE, and establishing a Mitigation Credit Matrix for calculating how much credit to apply in settlements with self-reporting violators. Although allowing self-reporting to an operating division may sound like a significant concession to hedge fund managers that want to avoid regulatory trouble, the Enforcement Advisory still left some room for a clearer understanding of what constitutes a material violation that could trigger an operating division referral to the DOE and what to expect when self-reporting violations to operating divisions. As the CFTC admitted in the Advisory, registered entities still needed clarity about what self-reported infractions might constitute material violations. The Advisory is the CFTC’s attempt to provide that clarity. This article summarizes key takeaways from the Advisory and presents expert analysis on what it means for fund managers with respect to self-reporting. For more on the Enforcement Advisory, see “CFTC Advisory on Self-Reporting, Cooperation and Remediation Overhauls Years of Guidance” (Mar. 27, 2025).