[authors: Kevin M. Foley, Adam J. Spector]

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued temporary no-action relief to swap dealers (SDs) from certain requirements of Parts 43, 45 and 46 of CFTC regulations (Swap Data Reporting Rules). This no-action relief was adopted in response to concerns raised by market participants that if no relief were granted, very few SDs would be initially registered, potentially allowing the market to identify the counterparties to the reported trades. Allowing the identity of counterparties to be discovered is a violation of CFTC Regulation 43.4(d)(1). The CFTC believes that this temporary no-action relief will help eliminate such concerns.

The CFTC no-action letter is available here.