In a move that would not surprise the least-seasoned CFTC-watcher, the agency wasted no time on 3rd January, in issuing its first no-action of the 2014. The CFTC has extended the no-action relief provided by letter 13-71 (14 January 2014) until 15th September 2014. Letter 13-71 promised no enforcement action for the failure of non-US […]

Outgoing CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler delivered his farewell speech on 27th December 2013, calling himself “darn proud” of pretty much everyone associated with his time at the agency, including his daughters and their “Captain Grandpa”. While he gave a full summary of the agency’s achievements under his tenure, he only alluded briefly to the many […]

The CFTC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning cooperation and exchange of information. The 12 page document is a statement of intent between the two supervisory agencies, promising mutual assistance in facilitating their respective mandates, covering: CCP’s, trade repositories, intermediaries, trading platforms and other market participants. Notable […]

ISDA has published a survey assessing market fragmentation and liquidity dissipation consequent upon confusion and uncertainty surrounding the controversial Footnote 88. The footnote expands the scope of the SEF mandate to effectively include all electronically traded OTC derivatives, obliging even those platforms that do not trade “required products” to register and their clients to abide […]

On 20 December 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved a series of broad comparability determinations with respect to regulation regarding the central clearing of derivatives enacted in Australia, Canada, the EU, Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland.  The favourable determinations means that non-US Swap Dealers (SDs) or non-US Major Swap Participants (MSPs) in these […]

Risk Magazine is reporting the Australia is set to get positive approval from the CFTC for the purposes of substituted compliance, enabling Australian firms to follow local rules in order to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act. According to the article, specific areas where approval is expected include: internal and external business conduct; capital requirements; trade […]

On 17 December 2013, the CFTC published a press release confirming that LCH.Clearnet SA has been registered as a derivatives clearing organization (DCO), authorised to clear credit default swaps and “such other swaps as the Commission determines LCH.C SA is eligible to clear”.

The five main U.S. regulatory agencies have issued final rules[1], implementing Section 619 of Dodd-Frank- the Volcker Rule. Implementation is delayed by a year, giving banks until 21st July 2015 to be fully compliant. However, the order specifies that proprietary trading operations should be closed “promptly” and that the largest banks must begin reporting various […]

Four of the five regulatory agencies needed to enact the Volcker Rule are voting on the 10th December 2013. The SEC has said it will vote on or near the same date. The CFTC has scheduled a public meetingat 9.30 am EST to discuss proprietary trading and other business. In what is almost certain to […]