On May 26, Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Participants Division (MPD) published updated responses to frequently asked questions regarding CFTC Regulation 4.27 and Form CPO-PQR (FAQs). These FAQs update the 2015 FAQs that addressed issues on Form CPO-PQR from filing mechanics and deadlines to more technical questions.
Continue Reading CFTC Staff Publishes Updated Responses to FAQs Regarding Commission Regulation 4.27 and Form CPO-PQR

On May 24, the National Futures Association (NFA) issued Notice to Members 1-21-16, announcing the effective date for NFA Member swap dealer and major swap participant dues increases.

NFA Bylaw 1301 imposes annual dues on NFA Member swap dealers (SD) and major swap participants (MSP). The current annual dues amounts have remained unchanged, except for a reduction in MSP annual dues, since NFA established its swap regulatory program in 2013. Given the expansion of NFA’s swaps regulatory program over the past eight years and to fund its operations and maintain adequate reserves, NFA’s Board of Directors, on May 20, unanimously approved the following increases to these annual dues amounts:
Continue Reading Effective Date for NFA Member Swap Dealer and Major Swap Participant Dues Increases

On May 5, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had issued an Order of Registration to Mercado Mexicano de Derivados, S.A. de C.V. (MexDer), a Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) and subsidiary of the Mexican Stock Exchange located in Mexico City, Mexico.
Continue Reading CFTC Issues Order of Registration to Mercado Mexicano de Derivados, S.A. de C.V. to Permit Trading by Direct Access From United States

On May 3, the Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) published Staff Letter No. 21-13 (Staff Letter), providing CX Clearinghouse, L.P. (CX) with no-action relief from specified Part 39 regulations applicable to derivatives clearing organizations (DCO).
Continue Reading CFTC Issues No-Action Response Letter Providing Relief to DCO From Complying With Specified Part 39 Regulatory Requirements

On April 28, the Division of Data of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a renewal of the temporary no-action relief available to entities (Relief Counterparties) that submit certain swaps for clearing by derivatives clearing organizations that operate pursuant to CFTC exemptive orders or staff no-action letters (Relief DCOs). CFTC Letter No. 21-12 extends relief

On April 22, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Data, Division of Market Oversight and Division of Clearing and Risk (collectively, the Divisions) issued CFTC Letter No. 21-11, which (1) provides no-action relief to KalshiEX LLC (Kalshi), a designated contract market, and LedgerX, LLC (LedgerX), a derivatives clearing organization, from reporting to swap data repositories data for binary option transactions executed on or subject to the rules of Kalshi and cleared by LedgerX; and (2) exempts Kalshi and LedgerX from certain related recordkeeping requirements.
Continue Reading CFTC Issues Conditional Relief From Reporting Fully Collateralized Binary Option Data to Swap Data Repositories

On April 8, the Market Participants Division (MPD), Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR), Division of Data (DOD) and Division of Market Oversight (DMO) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission jointly issued no-action relief, effective immediately, to maintain the regulatory status quo for swap dealers (SD) following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the

On April 14, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Participants Division (MPD) and Division of Market Oversight (DMO) jointly issued CFTC Staff Letter 21-10 to extend, for a limited time, parts of the temporary no-action relief granted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which expired on April 15.
Continue Reading CFTC Staff Issues Continuation of Certain No-Action Relief to Market Participants in Response to COVID-19