CFTC Staff Letters

Requests for No-Action Relief from Commission Regulation 23.451 in Connection with Dealings with Certain Governmental Plans and for Clarification Concerning the “Look-Back” Provision of Commission Regulation 23.451.

Time-Limited No-Action Relief for Swap Dealers from Certain Swap Data Reporting Requirements of Part 43, Part 45 and Part 46 of the Commission’s Regulations.

Staff Interpretation Regarding Part 22.

Staff No-Action Relief: Temporary Delay of Compliance Date for Part 22 Rules Due to Effects of Hurricane Sandy.

Request for No-Action Relief for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants from Compliance with Certain Internal Business Conduct Requirements Found in Subpart F to Part 23 of the CFTC’s Regulations

Division of Clearing and Risk staff issued an interpretation providing clarification that while regulation 22.2(d) prohibits an FCM from permitting a lien on Cleared Swaps Customer Collateral that it holds, regulation 22.2(d) does not prohibit a Cleared Swaps Customer from granting a lien on his or her own account at the FCM, nor does the regulation prohibit the FCM from taking action to foster the Cleared Swaps Customer’s grant of such a lien.

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued an interpretation that a limited liability company whose members were all family members was not a commodity pool within the meaning and intent of Regulation 4.10(d)(1) and, consequently, that the managing member was not a CPO thereof.

The Division will not recommend that the Commission take an enforcement action against FCMs or IBs for failure to be fully compliant with Regulations 1.71(a)-(c), (e) and (f) until 60 days beyond the current June 4, 2012 compliance date of the Regulation (August 3, 2012).

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight provided no-action relief to the general partner of a commodity pool from registering as a CPO under Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, and allowed an affiliated, registered CPO (“designee”) to serve as the CPO of the pool instead, where, among other things: (1) the general partner and the designee are under common ownership and control; (2) the general partner has delegated all of its management authority to the designee; (3) the general partner does not engage in the solicitation of investors for the pool and does not manage property of the pool; and (4) the general partner and designee executed and submitted to the Division a written acknowledgement of joint and several liability for any violation by either of them of the Act or the Commission’s regulations.

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight provided no-action relief to the general partner of a commodity pool from registering as a CPO under Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, and allowed an affiliated CPO (“designee”) to serve as the CPO of the pool instead, where, among other things: (1) the general partner and the designee are under common ownership and control; (2) the general partner has delegated all of its investment management authority to the designee; and (3) the general partner does not engage in the solicitation of investors for the pool and does not manage property of the pool. The relief was subject to the conditions that, among other things: (1) the designee becomes and remains registered as a CPO; and (2) the general partner and the designee execute an agreement by which they each undertake to be jointly and severally liabile for any violation by either of them of the Act or the Commission’s regulations in connection with the operation of the pool.