December 6, 2012

CFTC’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight Issues No-Action Letter on the Obligation of Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants to Provide the Pre-Trade Mid-Market Mark for Certain Foreign Exchange Transactions

Washington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) today issued a no-action letter that provides swap dealers and major swap participants with relief from the requirement to disclose the pre-trade mid-market mark to counterparties in certain foreign exchange (“forex”) transactions that are identified in the no-action letter (“Covered Forex Transactions”).

The disclosure requirements prescribed in Regulation 23.431 state, among other things, that a swap dealer or major swap participant must disclose to certain counterparties the pre-trade mid-market mark of a swap. The no-action letter issued today by DSIO states that a swap dealer or major swap participant need not disclose the pre-trade mid-market mark for a Covered Forex Transaction, provided that: (1) real-time tradeable bid and offer prices for the Covered Forex Transaction are available electronically, in the marketplace, to the counterparty; and (2) the counterparty to the Covered Forex Transaction agrees in advance, in writing, that the swap dealer or major swap participant need not disclose a pre-trade mid-market mark.

The relief provided in the no-action letter is applicable to all swap dealers and major swap participants.

Last Updated: December 6, 2012