Statement of Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo on the Issuance of Conditional Time-Limited No-Action Relief from Certain Ownership and Control Data Reporting Requirements under Parts 17, 18 and 20 of the Commission’s Regulations

September 28, 2015

I support the present extension of no-action relief that was set to expire on September 30, 2015. I commend Commission staff and the futures commission merchant community for their extensive efforts in attempting to resolve the outstanding issues engendered by the Ownership and Control Data Reporting Rule (OCR Rule).

This is another example, however, of eleventh hour relief that had become a common agency practice several years ago. I had hoped that the practice would become a vestige of the past.

Notwithstanding this relief, we have come to a point where ad hoc staff action is no longer satisfactory for this rule. It is clear that aspects of this ruleset are patently impracticable, unworkable and not justified by the costs. It must be fixed through formal action of the Commission. We must end the prolonged uncertainty fostered by multiple extensions of no-action relief¹ by resolving the issues raised in the petition to amend the rule filed by the Futures Industry Association (FIA) on June 26, 2015.²

Continuing to kick the can down the road is no longer the answer.

¹ This is the third extension of no-action relief from certain provisions of the OCR Rule. The relief issued today replaces CFTC Letter No. 15-03, which replaced CFTC Letter 14-95.

² See FIA Press Release and attachments, available at https://americas.fia.org/articles/fia-asks-cftc-amend-ocr-rule.

Last Updated: September 28, 2015