Senior compliance officials within FX firms in North America will be able to relax and enjoy this evening's New Year's celebrations relatively unburdened with the administrative reporting often associated with the end of a financial year following the issuance by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC ) of two no-action letters that provide certain futures commission merchants, swap dealers, and major swap participants with limited relief surrounding the requirement that Chief Compliance Officers of such firms prepare and submit an Annual Report, pursuant to Commission Regulation 3.3.
Swap Dealer Registration Deferred
The CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) declared in its first no-action letter relating to this matter that swap dealers have been provided with relief insofar as that they are not required, prior to December 31, 2013, to register with the CFTC as swap dealers, as well as reminding them that they have a fiscal year-end of December 31, 2013, representing today's date.
Within the same letter, the DSIO stated that it will not recommend that the CFTC take an enforcement action against any such firm, or a Chief Compliance officer of any such firm, for failing to prepare an Annual Report and furnish such Report to the CFTC for the fiscal year that ends on December 31, 2013.
In a separate letter, the DSIO provided relief to all futures commission merchants (FCMs), swap dealers, and major swap participants concerning the deadline for furnishing a copy of the Annual Report to the CFTC. The no-action relief provided in that letter is limited to the Annual Report required to be furnished by such firms during calendar year 2014.
