CFTC Extends No-Action Relief for DCOs from Reporting and Recordkeeping Obligations

The CFTC Division of Data ("DOD") extended previously issued no-action relief from certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements for transactions involving derivatives clearing organizations ("DCOs") acting pursuant to either (i) CFTC exemptive orders or (ii) CFTC Division of Clearing and Risk ("DCR") no-action relief ("Relief DCOs").

CFTC Letter 22-05 renews no-action relief previously extended under CFTC Letter 21-12, which expired on May 25, 2022. CFTC Letter 21-12 provided no-action relief under CFTC Rules against a counterparty to a Relief DCO for failing to:

• report creation or continuation data, pursuant to CFTC Rules 45.3 ("Swap data reporting: Creation data") and 45.4 ("Swap data reporting: Continuation data"), respectively, on clearing swaps between a Relief DCO and the counterparty to a Relief DCO;

• report continuation data pursuant to CFTC Rule 45.4 on original swaps cleared by the Relief DCO (including reporting of the termination of such swaps); or

• generate unique swap identifiers pursuant to CFTC Rule 45.5 ("Unique transaction identifiers") for clearing swaps between a Relief DCO and a counterparty to a Relief DCO.

The CFTC stated that the no-action relief is contingent upon a counterparty to a Relief DCO providing all information on original swaps as is required by the Relief DCO's clearing agreement.

Additionally, the no-action relief permits a reporting entity, subject to certain conditions, to identify swaps that are intended to be cleared by a Relief DCO as a cleared swap in primary economic terms (or "PET") data to be reported under Parts 43 and 45 of the CFTC Regulations.

The no-action relief is effective immediately and will be valid until the earlier of (i) the December 5, 2022 compliance date for the amendments to Parts 43 and 45 or (ii) the revocation or expiration of the relevant exemptive relief applicable to the relevant DCO.