CFTC Further Extends the Comment Period for Proposed Rules on Position Limits and Aggregation

The CFTC announced a 30-day extension of the comment period for the proposed rulemakings on position limits for physical commodity derivatives and aggregation of positions.

The CFTC previously extended the comment period deadlines for the proposals until July 3, 2014. To provide commenters with sufficient time to respond to questions raised and points made at the June 19, 2014 roundtable on the two rulemakings, the CFTC is further extending the comment period for 30 days from the date of its publication in the Federal Register.

The Position Limits Proposal establishes speculative position limits for 28 exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts. The Aggregation of Positions Proposal amends existing regulations setting out the CFTC's policy for aggregation under its position limits regime.

The CFTC stated that comments should be limited to the issues of:

• hedges of a physical commodity by a commercial enterprise, including gross hedging, cross-commodity hedging, anticipatory hedging, and the process for obtaining a non-enumerated exemption;
• the setting of spot month limits in physical-delivery and cash-settled contracts and a conditional spot-month limit exemption;
• the setting of non-spot limits for wheat contracts;
• the aggregation exemption for certain ownership interests of greater than 50 percent in an owned entity; and
• aggregation based on substantially identical trading strategies.

See: CFTC Press Release. Related news: CFTC Public Roundtable on Position Limits for Physical Commodity Derivatives (Cadwalader Summary) (June 23, 2014); CFTC Holds Public Roundtable on Position Limits for Physical Commodity Derivatives (with Delta Strategy Group Summary) (June 20, 2014); CFTC Reopens Comment Periods for Position Limits for Derivatives and for Aggregation of Positions (Fed. Reg.) (May 29, 2014); CFTC Announces Three Actions to Clean up Problems with Swaps Regulations (with Lofchie Comment) (CFTC Letter 14-72) (May 22, 2014); CFTC Issues Proposed Position Limits Rule (Fed. Reg.) (December 12, 2013); CFTC Issues Proposed Position Limits Rule for Derivatives (Pre-Fed. Reg.) (with Zwirb Comment) (December 3, 2013); CFTC Publishes Proposed Rules for Aggregation of Positions (Fed. Reg. Version) (November 15, 2013) Key Differences between the Recent CFTC Position Limits Proposal and the Previously Vacated Final Position Limits Rule (with Delta Strategy Group Summary) (November 18, 2013); Cadwalader Memo on Proposed Position Limits and Aggregation Rules (with Lofchie Comment) (November 6, 2013); CFTC Approves Position Limits Proposal (with Lofchie and Zwirb Comments and Delta Strategy Group Summary) (November 5, 2013).To stay up to date with the CFTC and other SRO rulemaking dates, please see the Cabinet's Rule Calendars (available to Cabinet subscribers only).