|
|
|
As of June 1, 2009
|
|
Ticker
|
USO
|
|
IIV
|
USO.IV
|
|
CUSIP
|
91232N108
|
| ISIN |
US91232N1081 |
|
Management Expense Ratio
|
0.96%
|
|
Trading Increment
|
$0.01
|
|
Minimum Trade Size
|
1 share
|
|
Marginable
|
Yes
|
|
Short Selling Allowed
|
Yes (uptick exempt)*
|
|
Options Traded
|
Yes
|
|
Administrator
|
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co
|
|
Distributor
|
ALPS Distributors, Inc.
|
|
General Partner
|
United States Commodity Funds, LLC
|
* Rule 10a-1(a) under the Exchange Act covers transactions in any security registered on a national securities exchange, if trades in such security are reported in the consolidated transaction reporting system, and prohibits short sales with respect to these securities unless such sales occur on a "plus tick," (that is, a price above the price at which the immediately preceding sale was effected), or "zero-plus tick," (that is, at the last sale price if it was higher than the last different price). The SEC staff granted an exemption from Rule 10a-1 to permit sales of USO units without regard to the "tick" requirements of Rule 10a-1, as provided for in a No Action letter dated April 7, 2006.
The United States Oil Fund LP is a domestic exchange traded security designed to track the movements of light, sweet crude oil (“West Texas Intermediate”).
USO is a commodity pool organized as a Delaware limited partnership that issues units that may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca.
USO’s Objective – The investment objective of USO is for the changes in percentage terms of its units’ net asset value (“NAV”) to reflect the changes in percentage terms of the spot price of light, sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma, as measured by the changes in the price of the futures contract for light, sweet crude oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (the “NYMEX”), less USO’s expenses.
USO’s Target – Crude oil is one of the most important physical commodities in the global economy. WTI light, sweet crude oil futures contracts are also the most actively traded, and WTI light, sweet crude oil is the primary US benchmark for crude oil.
USO’s Portfolio – The portfolio will consist of listed crude oil futures contracts and other oil related futures, forwards, and swap contracts. USO will also invest in obligations of the United States government with remaining maturities of two years or less and hold cash and cash equivalents to be used to meet its current or potential margin or collateral requirements with respect to its investments in crude oil futures contracts and other oil interests.
U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations
A summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of units in USO, and the U.S. federal income tax treatment of USO, is set forth in the Prospectus.
Each prospective investor is advised to consult its own tax advisor as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in USO and as to applicable state, local or foreign taxes.
Tax Status of USO
USO is organized and will be operated as a limited partnership in accordance with the provisions of the LP Agreement and applicable state law. Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), an entity classified as a partnership that is deemed to be a “publicly traded partnership” is generally taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. The Code provides an exception to this general rule for a publicly traded partnership whose gross income for each taxable year of its existence consists of at least 90% “qualifying income” (“qualifying income exception”). For this purpose, section 7704 defines “qualifying income” as including, in pertinent part, interest (other than from a financial business), dividends and gains from the sale or disposition of capital assets held for the production of interest or dividends. In addition, in the case of a partnership a principal activity of which is the buying and selling of commodities (other than as inventory) or of futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities, “qualifying income” includes income and gains from such commodities and futures, forwards and options with respect to commodities. USO and the General Partner have represented the following to Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP:
-
At least 90% of USO’s gross income for each taxable year will constitute “qualifying income” within the meaning of Code section 7704 (as described above);
-
USO will be organized and operated in accordance with its governing agreements and applicable law;
-
USO has not elected, and will not elect, to be classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Based in part on these representation, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP is of the opinion that USO will be classified as a partnership for federal income tax purposes and that it will not be taxable as a corporation for such purposes.
If USO failed to satisfy the qualifying income exception in any year, other than a failure that is determined by the IRS to be inadvertent and that is cured within a reasonable time after discovery, USO would be taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes and would pay federal income tax on its income at regular corporate rates. In that event, unitholders would not report their share of USO’s income or loss on their returns. In addition, distributions to unitholders would be treated as dividends to the extent of USO’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. To the extent a distribution exceeded USO’s earnings and profits, the distribution would be treated as a return of capital to the extent of a unitholder’s basis in its units, and thereafter as gain from the sale of units. Accordingly, if USO were to be taxable as a corporation, it would likely have a material adverse effect on the economic return from an investment in USO and on the value of the units.
Under recently enacted legislation, interests in and income from “qualified publicly traded partnerships” satisfying certain gross income tests are treated as qualifying assets and income, respectively, for purposes of determining eligibility for regulated investment company (“RIC”) status. A RIC may invest up to 25% of its assets in interests in a qualified publicly traded partnership. The determination of whether a publicly traded partnership such as USO is a qualified publicly traded partnership is made on an annual basis. USO expects to be a qualified publicly traded partnership in each of its taxable years. However, such qualification is not assured.
The foregoing is only a partial summary of the federal income tax consequences of an investment in USO. The full summary can be found in the Prospectus.
