The CFTC submitted a Memorandum responding to a Complaint filed in federal district court by three financial industry trade associations – ISDA, SIFMA and the Institute of International Bankers ("IIB") (together, the "Associations") – challenging the legality of the CFTC's Interpretive Guidance and Policy Statement Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations ("Cross-Border Guidance" or "Guidance"). In addition to arguing that the plaintiffs lack standing and that their challenge is not ripe, the CFTC contends in its latest response that the 2010 Dodd-Frank law "unambiguously" states

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued no-action relief regarding the operation of certain collective trading vehicles by either of two corporations, both of which are controlled by a single nonprofit corporation, exempting either corporation from registering as a CPO with respect to the described structure pursuant to CEA Section 4m(1) ("Use of Mails or Other Means or Instrumentalities of Interstate Commerce by Commodity Trading Advisors and Commodity Pool Operators; Relation to Other Law"). In the letter, the CFTC reasoned that the collective trading

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of NY against 16 major banks ("Bank Defendants") for allegedly manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR"). In the complaint, the FDIC alleged that the Bank Defendants "fraudulently and collusively suppressed" USD LIBOR during a period beginning from August 2007 until "at least" mid-2011. The complaint also accuses an industry group, the British Bankers' Association, of participating in the alleged scheme. & The complaint, which was filed by the FDIC as receiver for a

The SEC held a public meeting on a proposed rule to enhance the oversight of clearing agencies that are deemed to be systemically important by the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") or that are involved in complex transactions, such as security-based swaps ("covered clearing agencies"). Click here for a summary of the open meeting by Delta Strategy Group. Related news: SEC Proposes Rules for Systemically Important and Security-Based Swap Clearing Agencies (with Lofchie Comment) (March 12, 2014).

SIFMA submitted comments to the CFTC requesting time-limited no-action relief relating to confirmations for swaps not required or intended to be cleared that are executed on swap execution facilities. SIFMA's letter echoed a recent letter to the CFTC from the Global Foreign Exchange Division ("GFXD") of the Global Financial Markets Association ("GFMA"), which requested that the CFTC Division of Marketing Oversight ("DMO") not recommend enforcement action against a swap execution facility ("SEF") that has failed, prior to January 1, 2015, to comply with the requirements of the CFTC in