Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of CFTC Staff No-Action Letter Addressing Certain Swap Reporting Obligations
December 02, 2022
I support the continuation of staff no-action relief that is being provided through today’s extension of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Letter 22-05. But the extension of this relief compels me to yet again repeat my refrain[1]: the Commission must stop using temporary and successive band-aids and work-arounds instead of doing the hard work of crafting permanent solutions to known problems.
The relief being extended today was originally issued in 2016.[2] Instead of addressing this issue over the past six years, the Commission has repeatedly kicked the can down the road – this time until December 5, 2025. The Commission’s inaction has resulted in market participants requesting, and CFTC staff granting, extensions of this relief four times.[3] The Commission’s failure to propose a permanent solution is a dereliction of duty.
[1] See Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of Staff No-Action Letter 20-31 for Swaps Executed as part of Certain Package Transactions (November 09, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of Staff No-Action Letter 20-31 for Swaps Executed as part of Certain Package Transactions | CFTC; See Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of Staff No-Action Letter 20-37 (October 28, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of Staff No-Action Letter 20-37 | CFTC; Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding No-Action Relief to Korea Exchange (October 17, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding No-Action Relief to Korea Exchange | CFTC; Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of No-Action Relief from Certain Position Aggregation Requirements under CFTC Regulation 150.4 (August 10, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of No-Action Relief from Certain Position Aggregation Requirements under CFTC Regulation 150.4 | CFTC; Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Extension of No-Action Relief to Shanghai Clearing House (July 26, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Extension of No-Action Relief to Shanghai Clearing House | CFTC; and Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Order of Registration Regarding AEGIS SEF, LLC (July 20, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Order of Registration Regarding AEGIS SEF, LLC | CFTC.
[2] CFTC Letter No. 16-85 (December 19, 2016).
[3] See CFTC Letter No. 18-03 (February 20, 2018); CFTC Letter No. 21-12 (April 28, 2021); CFTC Letter No. 22-05 (May 25, 2022).
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