CFTC Seeks Comment on No Action Relief for DCO During Trading Platform Shift
The CFTC Division of Market Oversight ("DMO") requested comment on proposed no-action relief to allow a designated contract market to temporarily offer trading in wheat options exclusively through block trades as it transitions to a new trading platform.
MIAX Futures Exchange ("MIAX") asked the DMO for the relief as it moves its Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat ("HRSW") futures and options contracts from CME's Globex platform to its own Onyx trading platform. MIAX asked the DMO to take no action under current CFTC Rule 1.38 ("Execution of Transactions"), CEA Section 5c(c) ("Registered Entities: New contracts, new rules, and rule amendments") and DCM Core Principle 9 ("Competitive, Open and Efficient Markets and Mechanism"). MIAX also proposed temporary rule changes that would: (i) allow HRSW options block trades without a centralized market, (ii) reduce the block trade minimum from 15 contracts to just one, and (iii) permit all participants—not just eligible contract participants—to engage in trades.
In the proposed no action letter, the DMO stated that the relief was warranted "to provide participants in the HRSW Options market with a means to trade out of or offset their open positions in the September 2025 and December 2025 expirations when electronic trading is no longer available." The DMO also said relief was warranted "if MIAX Futures amends its rulebook to implement the Temporary HRSW Options Block Trading Protocol before June 30, 2025, when an electronic trading system will no longer be available for the HRSW Options." The DMO said that the temporary relief would be in effect from June 30 through August 29, 2025. The CFTC said the measure is intended to minimize market disruption and allow participants time to manage or unwind their positions.
In a separate release, the CFTC stated, "[d]ue to the novelty of MIAX Futures' block-trade only proposal, DMO seeks public comment on the above issues." The CFTC explained that "[t]he abbreviated comment period of June 25, 2025, "is necessary to facilitate a timely decision in advance of the proposed June 30, 2025, trading date – when the current electronic trading system will cease to be available – if the requested relief is granted."