On the 9th April the CFTC “clarified” the confusion regarding substituted SEF compliance for MTFs. No-action Letter 14-46 supersedes and extends the 11th February 2014 relief from SEF-registration rules  that were due to take effect on 15 May 2014, affecting EU MTFs and SDs who wish to transact through them. In order to benefit, MTFs […]

21st March 2014. As previewed in the “path forward“, the CFTC issued a short-term extension to No-action Letter 14-16, exempting EU MTFs from the SEF registration and trade execution mandates[1]. The press release has the catchy title, “CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Provides Extension of Temporary No-Action Relief with respect to Swaps Trading on Multilateral […]

The CFTC has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with the Financial Services Agency of Japan. The MOC lays out the basis for the exchange of information for the supervision of regulated entities that operate cross-border between Japan and the U.S. The MOC’s scope includes markets and organized trading platforms, central counterparties, trade repositories, and […]

The Federal Reserve yesterday announced a final rule requiring the largest foreign banks to adhere to enhanced US domestic capital and liquidity standards. The rule applies to approximately 100 non-US banks with consolidated global assets of $50bn and over. Non-US banks with at least $50bn of assets located in the States will have to manage […]

A short update on developments in the Footnote 513 Guidance case filed by ISDA, SIFMA and the IIB (the “Plaintiffs”) against the CFTC in early December 2013. A win for the Plaintiffs on the issue of cross-border guidance will render a large proportion of the CFTC’s rules and consequent enforcement actions open to substantive legal […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission may rule, by the end of this week, that regulations regarding the central clearing of swaps in five foreign jurisdictions, including those in Europe under EMIR, do not meet equivalence standards.  If confirmed, this development threatens to leave some firms in the position […]