December 29, 2014

CFTC Staff Issues Extension of Time-Limited No-Action Relief for Futures Commission Merchants from Requirement to Obtain an Acknowledgement Letter from Certain Depositories

Washington, DC — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (Commission) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) today announced an extension of previous no-action relief where DSIO provided additional time for futures commission merchants (FCMs) to comply with Commission regulations requiring FCMs to obtain acknowledgement letters from certain depositories. DSIO is extending this no-action relief until April 30, 2015.

Specifically, Commission Regulations 1.20(d)(3)(i) and (ii), 1.26, 22.5, 30.7(d)(3)(i) and (ii), and the Appendices require that FCMs deposit customer funds only with depositories that have provided the FCM with an acknowledgement letter in which such depositories agree to provide the DSIO Director (or such director’s designees) with direct, read-only electronic access to transaction and account balance information for FCM customer accounts.

Some depositories require the Commission to enter into an on-line access agreement before the depository may provide the DSIO Director with the required read-only access to transaction and account balance information for FCM customer accounts. Thus, due to a lack of an executed on-line access agreement, some depositories to FCMs have not yet provided the acknowledgement letters required by Commission regulations. The Division’s review, negotiation, and execution of such agreements will not be completed by December 31, 2014, the expiration date for the previous no-action relief.

Last Updated: December 29, 2014