CFTC Staff Letters

The Division of Market Oversight is issuing Guidance to swap execution facilities regarding the calculation of projected operating costs or expenses for the purpose of meeting the financial resource requirements under SEF Core Principle 13 and Commission Regulation 37.1303 and clarifies that commissions paid employee-brokers, calculated as a percentage of transaction revenue, do not have to be included in the calculation.

The Division of Market Oversight is issuing a no-action letter that extends No-Action Letter 14-108 and continues to provide relief from (1) the requirement that a SEF obtain documents that are incorporated by reference in confirmations issued under Commission Regulation 37.6(b) prior to issuing the confirmation, and (2) the requirement that a SEF maintain such documents as records. In addition, the division is providing relief from the requirement set forth in Commission Regulation 45.3(a) that SEFs report terms contained in the agreements that are confirmation data.

The Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk are issuing a no-action letter that provides relief similar to that provided in No-Action Letters 13-66 and 14-50 by permitting swap execution facilities (SEFs) and designated contract markets (DCMs) to address clerical or operational errors that cause a swap to be rejected from clearing. The relief provided in this letter also permits SEFs and DCMS to address clerical or operational errors discovered after a swap has been cleared.

The CPO of a commodity pool operated pursuant to an exemption under Regulation 4.7 requested exemptive relief from the annual report requirement in Regulation 4.7(b)(3) to allow the CPO to file an annual report for the pool for the period from January 1, 2014, through January 31, 2015. The CPO determined in January 2015 to wind up the pool’s operations. By January 31, the pool had permanently ceased trading and completed the winding up process by making its final distributions to the pool’s seven participants, all of whom consented by waiver to receive a 13-month annual report. DSIO granted relief pursuant to Regulations 4.12(a) and 140.93 conditioned upon the future filing and distribution of a certified Annual Report for the period from January 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015.

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight took a CPO and CTA registration no-action position with respect to the use of wholly-owned United States subsidiaries by a Canadian company to participate in commodity pools organized and operated in the United States. The Canadian company is the real estate investment subsidiary of an entity formed by a Canadian province to invest assets of pension and insurance plans. The United States subsidiaries are formed for tax purposes, and neither the Canadian company nor any of its United States subsidiaries seeks or accepts United States investors or participants.

No-Action Relief is provided to swap dealers from compliance with certain Commission regulations related to business conduct standards with counterparties and swap trading relationship documentation when entering into swaps with certain special purpose vehicles in existence prior to October 10, 2013.

The CPO of a commodity pool operated pursuant to an exemption under Regulation 4.7 requested exemptive relief from the annual report requirement in Regulation 4.7(b)(3) to allow the CPO to file a 14-month annual report for the pool for the period from November 3, 2014, the date the CPO began operations, through December 31, 2015. DSIO granted relief pursuant to Regulations 4.12(a) and 140.93 conditioned upon the future filing and distribution of a certified Annual Report for the period from November 3, 2014 to December 31, 2015.

The CPO of a commodity pool operated pursuant to an exemption under Regulation 4.7 requested exemptive relief from the annual report requirement in Regulation 4.7(b)(3) to allow the CPO to file a 14-month annual report for the pool for the period from January 1, 2015, the date the pool began trading, through February 29, 2016, the close of the pool’s 2015-16 fiscal year. The CPO submitted a signed waiver from the pool’s participant, indicating consent to receive such a report. DSIO granted relief pursuant to Regulations 4.12(a) and 140.93 conditioned upon the future filing and distribution of a certified Annual Report for the period from January 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016.

The CPO of a commodity pool requested exemptive relief from Regulation 4.22(d)(1), which requires the financial statements included in Annual Reports to be audited. The CPO submitted waivers from all pool participants, consenting to receive an unaudited Annual Report. DSIO granted relief pursuant to Regulations 4.12(a) and 140.93 from Regulation 4.22(d), permitting the filing and distribution of an unaudited 2014 annual report. Such relief is also conditioned upon the future filing and distribution of a certified Annual Report in full compliance with Regulations 4.22(c) and (d) that covers the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years.

The CPO of a commodity pool that began trading in June 2014 requested exemptive relief from Regulations 4.22(c) and (d). The CPO submitted waivers from all pool participants, which included two proprietary and three outside investors. DSIO granted relief pursuant to Regulations 4.12(a) and 140.93 from Regulation 4.22(d), permitting the filing and distribution of an unaudited 2014 annual report. Such relief is also conditioned upon the future filing and distribution of a certified Annual Report in full compliance with Regulations 4.22(c) and (d) that covers the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years.