November 14, 2012

CFTC’s Office of General Counsel Responds to Questions Regarding Certain Physical Commercial Agreements for the Supply and Consumption of Energy

Washington, DC — Today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Office of General Counsel (OGC) is providing its view, in the form of an answer to frequently asked questions (FAQ), in response to questions from market participants and other interested parties regarding the classification of certain physical commercial agreements for the supply and consumption of energy that provide flexibility set forth in the CFTC’s joint Federal Register release with the Securities and Exchange Commission entitled Further Definition of “Swap”; “Security-Based Swap”; and “Security-Based Swap Agreement”; Mixed Swaps; Security-Based Swap Agreement Recordkeeping (“Release”).

OGC is issuing this FAQ to help market participants and other interested parties better understand and apply the three-part test set forth in the Release for determining when such physical commercial agreements should not be considered to be commodity options.

Last Updated: November 14, 2012