On May 25, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that on June 9, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) would hold a public meeting via teleconference. At this meeting, the AAC will receive a report from the subcommittee that has been evaluating CFTC policy with respect to the implementation of
Derivatives
Effective Date for NFA Member Swap Dealer and Major Swap Participant Dues Increases
By Kevin M. Foley & Elise W. Michael on
Posted in CFTC, Derivatives
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:
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CFTC Renews No-Action Relief for Entities Submitting Swaps for Clearing With DCOs Acting Under Exemptive Orders or No-Action Relief
By Kevin M. Foley & Elizabeth Organ on
Posted in CFTC, Derivatives
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…
CFTC Issues Conditional Relief From Reporting Fully Collateralized Binary Option Data to Swap Data Repositories
By Kevin M. Foley & Stanley V. Polit on
Posted in CFTC, Derivatives
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.
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FINRA Publishes Answer to Frequently Asked Questions Under Rule 4521(d) on Margin Balance Reporting
By Susan Light & Shelby Kost on
Posted in Broker-Dealer, Derivatives
On April 13, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued answers to several Frequently Asked Questions to aid members with their reporting obligations under FINRA Rule 4521(d) (the Rule).
The Rule provides that each member carrying margin accounts for customers must submit, on a settlement date basis, as of the last business day of the month: 1) the total of all debit balances in securities margin accounts; and 2) the total of all free credit balances in all cash accounts and all securities margin accounts.
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CFTC Staff Provides Further Brexit-Related Relief
By Kevin M. Foley & Alexander C. Kim on
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…
NFA Issues Notice Regarding Effective Date of NFA’s Rules Regarding CPO Notice Filing Requirements
By Christian B. Hennion & Alexander C. Kim on
Posted in CFTC, Derivatives
On April 13, the National Futures Association (NFA) issued Notice I-21-15 advising members firms that new NFA Compliance Rule 2-50 and its related Interpretive Notice become effective June 30. (The proposal of the new rule and Interpretive Notice was discussed in the March 12, 2021 edition of Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest.)
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CFTC Staff Issues Guidance Regarding Risk Assessment of Customer Accounts for Futures Commission Merchants
By Kevin M. Foley & Gregory A. Uffner on
Posted in CFTC, Derivatives
On March 29, the Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued guidance regarding the implementation of revised Regulation 39.13(g)(8)(ii). Regulation 39.13(g)(8)(ii) provides that a derivatives clearing organization (DCO) must require its clearing members to collect from their customers initial margin at a level that is at least equal to the DCO’s own initial margin requirements with respect to each product and portfolio and commensurate with the risk presented by each customer account. The regulation further requires that a DCO must set both (1) a baseline level of initial margin (“clearing initial margin”), which serves as the minimum amount its clearing members must in turn collect from their customers; and (2) an increased level of initial margin (“customer initial margin”) for categories of customers determined by a clearing member to have a “heightened risk profile.”
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NFA Issues Notice Regarding Effective Date of NFA’s Swap Dealer Capital Requirements
By Kevin M. Foley & Gregory A. Uffner on
Posted in CFTC, Derivatives
On March 31, the National Futures Association (NFA) issued Notice I-21-14 advising member firms that are registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as swap dealers (SDs), that NFA rules adopting minimum capital and financial reporting requirements will become effective October 6.
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CFTC Acting Chairman Announces New Climate Risk Unit
Posted in CFTC, Derivatives
On March 17, Acting Chairman Rostin Benham of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that he has created a new Climate Risk Unit (CRU) to focus on the role of derivatives in mitigating climate-related risks and helping the economy transition to lower carbon usage. The CRU includes staff from across the CFTC’s various divisions and officers and represents the next step in years of climate leadership for the CFTC (including last year’s publication of the Market Risk Advisory Committee’s Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee’s report on Managing Climate Risk in the US Financial System).
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