CFTC Staff Letters

No-action letter providing time-limited no-action relief from the requirements of the trade execution requirement in Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) section 2(h)(8) to Eligible Affiliate Counterparties, as defined in Commission regulation 50.52(a) of the Commission’s regulations, that engage in swap transactions with one another that involve a swap subject to the trade execution requirement.

No-action letter extending the time-limitation contained in an alternative compliance framework available to certain affiliated counterparties pursuant to Commission regulation 50.52(b)(4)(ii)-(iii).

This letter provides relief for a CPO to combine a portion of a pool’s 2013 operations (the pool had a capitalization date in October 2013) with 2014 for the purposes of filing an audited Annual Report. As such, instead of requiring the CPO to incur the expense of preparing an audited Annual Report for the pool for the 3 month period ending December 31, 2013, the CPO would instead file an audited Annual Report for the period spanning October 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014.

The CPO of a commodity pool operating pursuant to an exemption under Regulation 4.7 requested exemptive relief from the requirement in Regulation 4.7(b)(3) and 4.22(d) that the financial statements in the pools annual report be audited. The CPO submitted waivers from all of the pools participants evidencing their consent to the relief requested. DSIO granted relief pursuant to Commission regulations 140.93 and 4.12(a) conditioned upon the filing and distribution of an uncertified Annual Report for fiscal year 2013 that otherwise complies with the provisions of Regulation 4.7(b)(3).

The CPO of a commodity pool operated pursuant to an exemption under Regulation 4.7 requested exemptive relief from that regulation’s annual report requirement, in order to permit the CPO to file an annual report for the pool for the period of January 1, 2013 through January 31, 2014. The CPO determined to wind up the Pool’s operations on January 23, 2014, and by January 31, the Pool had permanently ceased trading. On February 13, 2014, the CPO completed the winding up process and made final distributions to the pool’s 15 participants. The Division granted the exemptive relief pursuant to Commission Regulations 4.12(a) and 140.93, and conditioned such relief on the future filing of a certified annual report for the period of January 1, 2013 through January 31, 2014.

Best practices for complying with GLB Security Safeguards

Staff from the Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk issued an Advisory, which helps provide clarity to certain market participants regarding certain statements made in the Final Order in Response to a Petition from Certain Independent system Operators and Regional Transmission Organizations to Exempt Specified Transactions Authorized by a Tariff or Protocol Approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the Public Utility Commission of Texas from Certain Provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act Pursuant to the Authority Provided in the Act.

The CPO of a commodity pool operated pursuant to an exemption under Regulation 4.7 requested exemptive relief from the requirement in Regulations 4.7(b)(3) and 4.22(d)(1) that the financial statements in the pool’s annual report be audited. At the end of the 2013 fiscal year, the pool had just one participant, who also is a controlling principal of the CPO and oversees the daily operations of both the CPO and the pool. DSIO granted relief from the audit requirement for the 2013 annual report pursuant to Regulations 4.12(a) and 140.93, conditioned upon the filing of an uncertified annual report for the 2013 fiscal year that otherwise complies with the provisions of Regulation 4.7(b)(3).

No-Action Relief with Respect to Certain Commodity Exchange Act Provisions That May Apply to Southwest Power Pool, Inc. and/or Its Participants

The Division of Clearing and Risk issued a letter providing guidance to ASX Clear (Futures) Pty Limited (“ASXCLF”) regarding compliance with the condition to No-Action Letter 14-07, which requires ASXCLF to comply with the reporting obligations applicable to registered derivatives clearing organizations under the Commissions Part 45 regulations.