April 8, 2016

CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Issues Time-Limited No-Action Relief Regarding Masking Certain Information Reportable under the OCR Final Rule

Washington, DC — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) today issued a no-action letter (CFTC Letter No. 16-33) regarding the masking of certain information reportable under the ownership and control final rule (OCR Final Rule). The OCR Final Rule requires the electronic submission of trader identification and market participant data on new and updated reporting forms.

CFTC Letter 16-33 is substantively similar to CFTC Letter 16-03, issued on January 15, 2016, which extended relief permitting Part 45 and Part 46 reporting counterparties to mask legal entity identifiers, other enumerated identifiers and other identifying terms, and permitting Part 20 reporting parties to mask identifying information in certain enumerated jurisdictions. CFTC Letter 16-33 permits reporting parties with reporting obligations on OCR Forms 102A and 102B to mask certain identifying information, subject to conditions, until the earlier of: a reporting party no longer holding the requisite reasonable belief regarding the privacy law consequences of reporting; and March 1, 2017. Consistent with the no-action relief for Parts 20, 45 and 46 provided under CFTC Letter 16-03, CFTC Letter 16-33:

• does not require an opinion of outside counsel (or any other particular basis) for a reporting party to form a reasonable belief that non-U.S. privacy laws bar the reporting of certain information on Form 102A or 102B; and
• requires a formal response from the relevant foreign regulator(s) that reporting such information via Form 102A or 102B would violate the law of the non-U.S. jurisdiction.

Parties with reporting obligations under the OCR Final Rule should also review CFTC Letter 16-32, issued today date hereof, which provides additional no-action relief in connection with the OCR Final Rule.

Detailed information on procedures for masking certain information on Form 102A or 102B will be forthcoming on the CFTC’s Ownership and Control Reporting (OCR) homepage.

Last Updated: April 8, 2016