As used in this chapter:

(1) "Administrator" means the South Carolina Secretary of State.

(2) "Board of Trade" means a person or group of persons engaged in buying or selling a commodity or receiving it for sale on consignment, whether the person or group of persons is characterized as a board of trade, exchange, or other form of marketplace.

(3) "CFTC Rule" means a rule, regulation, or order of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in effect on the effective date of this chapter and their amendments unless the administrator, within ten days following the effective date of an amendment disallows its application to this chapter by regulation.

(4) "Commodity" means, except as otherwise specified by the administrator, an agricultural, a grain, or a livestock product or by-product, a metal or mineral, including a precious metal, a gem, or gemstone whether characterized as precious, semi-precious, or otherwise, a fuel whether liquid, gaseous, or otherwise, a foreign currency, and other goods, articles, products, or items. It does not include:

(a) a numismatic coin whose fair market value is at least fifteen percent higher than the value of the metal it contains;

(b) real property or a timber, an agricultural, or a livestock product grown or raised on real property and offered or sold by the owner or lessee of the property; or

(c) a work of art offered or sold by art dealers at public auction or offered or sold through a private sale by the owner.

(5) "Commodity Contract" means an account, an agreement, or a contract for the purchase or sale, primarily for speculation or investment purposes and not for use or consumption by the offeree or purchaser of one or more commodities, whether for immediate or subsequent delivery or whether delivery is intended by the parties, and whether characterized as a cash contract, deferred shipment or deferred delivery contract, forward contract, futures contract, installment or margin contract, leverage contract, or otherwise. A commodity contract offered or sold, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is presumed to be offered or sold for speculation or investment purposes. A commodity contract does not include a contract or an agreement which requires and under which the purchaser receives, within twenty-eight calendar days from the payment in good funds of a portion of the purchase price, physical delivery of the total amount of each commodity to be purchased under the contract or agreement.

(6) "Commodity Exchange Act" means the act of Congress known as the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended, unless the administrator within ten days following the effective date of an amendment, disallows the application to this chapter by regulation.

(7) "Commodity Futures Trading Commission" means the independent regulatory agency established by Congress to administer the Commodity Exchange Act.

(8) "Commodity merchant" means any of the following as defined or described in the Commodity Exchange Act or by CFTC Rule:

(a) futures commission merchant;

(b) commodity pool operator;

(c) commodity trading advisor;

(d) introducing broker;

(e) leverage transaction merchant;

(f) an associated person of item (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e);

(g) floor broker;

(h) other person, other than a futures association, required to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

(9) "Commodity option" means an account, an agreement, or a contract giving a party the right but not the obligation to purchase or sell one or more commodities or one or more commodity contracts, or all of the foregoing, whether characterized as an option, privilege, indemnity, bid, offer, put, call, advance guaranty, decline guaranty, or otherwise. It does not include an option traded on a national securities exchange registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

(10) "Financial institution" means a bank, savings institution, or trust company organized under, or supervised pursuant to the laws of the United States or its states.

(11) "Offer" includes every offer to sell, offer to purchase, or offer to enter into a commodity contract or commodity option.

(12) "Person" means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a joint-stock company, a trust where the interests of the beneficiaries are evidenced by a security, an unincorporated organization, a government, or a political subdivision of a government. It does not include a contract market designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a clearinghouse of it, a national securities exchange registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or an employee, an officer, or a director of the contract market, clearinghouse, or exchange acting solely in that capacity.

(13) "Precious metal" means the following in either coin, bullion, or other form:

(a) silver;

(b) gold;

(c) platinum;

(d) palladium;

(e) copper;

(f) other items the administrator may specify by regulation.

(14) "Sale" or "sell" includes every sale, contract of sale, contract to sell, or disposition for value.

HISTORY: 1993 Act No. 68, Section 1, eff 200 days after approval (approved May 14, 1993).