With previously granted exemptive relief from certain CEA provisions set to expire this month, the CFTC has issued a final rule extending it until December 31, with several modifications.
While the general effective date of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act was originally July 16,2011, the CFTC granted temporary exemptive relief was granted two days before the deadline because many rules needed to implement the law had not yet been drawn up. While the CFTC has now finalized more than half of the rules assigned to it, it has been forced to extend the deadline again, this time until the end of the year (or another date, depending on the nature of the relief). Due to several important rules having been finalized in the interim, this exemptive order differs somewhat from the previous version:
- References to entity-related terms including “swap dealer,” “major swap participant,” and “eligible contract participant” have been removed, as these terms were jointly defined by the CFTC and the SEC on April 18, 2012.
- Clearing of agricultural swaps is now allowed.
- References to the exempt commercial market and exempt board of trade grandfather relief previously issued by the commission have been removed.
