The tenuous issue of cross-border derivatives regulation between the United States and the European Union may be over soon, according to a press release from the CFTC today. Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and European Commission representative Michel Berneir have announced that the two regulatory bodies may have created a ‘common path forward’ for dealing with cross-border swaps.

The European Commission and the CFTC have many advantages of developing cross-border regulations together. In light of this demonstration of international cooperation, some have hopes that the G20 promise to promote transparency in over-the-counter derivatives trading will become more of a focal point in regulation.

The Path Forward, as this plan has been anointed  includes many no-action temporary reliefs in situations where CFTC and EC rules regarding risk mitigation and recording have been considered equivalent. For example, in the case of bilateral uncleared swaps, the rules have been deemed comparable in purpose and scope by both regulatory bodies. Because of this equivalence, the CFTC has ordered a no-action time relief for the transaction-based requirements. Furthermore, the CFTC projects that foreign trade boards will be able to list swap dealings directly, if they’ve already been given no-action relief.

In addition to those no-action time-limited reliefs, the CFTC’s press release included others such as multilateral trading facilities (MTFs). The full press release can be found on the CFTC website.