January 15, 2016

CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Extends Conditional, Time-Limited No-Action Relief Regarding Masking Certain Reportable Identifying Information

Washington, DC — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) today issued a letter providing a conditional, time-limited extension of the relief provided in CFTC Letter 13-41 regarding masking of certain identifying information required to be reported.

CFTC Letter 13-41, issued on June 28, 2013, permits Part 45 and Part 46 reporting counterparties to mask legal entity identifiers, other enumerated identifiers and other identifying terms, and permits Part 20 reporting entities to mask identifying information in certain enumerated jurisdictions. DMO most recently extended this relief by CFTC Letter 15-01, and is extending the relief, subject to conditions, until the earlier of: the reporting party no longer holding the requisite reasonable belief regarding the privacy law consequences of reporting; and 12:01 a.m. (EST) on March 1, 2017.

The current extension:

• does not require an opinion of outside counsel (or any other particular basis) to form a reasonable belief that foreign privacy laws bar certain reporting under Parts 20, 45 and/or 46 (Relevant Regulations);
  
  
• requires a formal response from the relevant foreign regulator(s) that reporting such information pursuant to the Relevant Regulations would violate the law of the non-U.S. jurisdiction;
  
  
• permits relief based on the privacy laws of additional jurisdictions upon receipt of the foreign regulator’s letter confirming that its laws bar certain reporting under the Relevant Regulations; and
  
  
• states that DMO will consider triggers for the relief in addition to the status of a swap counterparty if it receives sufficient detail on what, in addition to the nature of the counterparty, triggers foreign privacy law bars on reporting under the Relevant Regulations.
  

The current extension also permits reporting parties who previously met the conditions in CFTC Letter 13-41, or who meet those conditions in the future, to fulfill their reporting obligations while acknowledging privacy, secrecy and blocking laws in certain non-U.S. jurisdictions.

Last Updated: January 15, 2016