CFTC Issues No-Action Relief to Southwest Power Pool (CFTC Letter 14-18) (with Lofchie Comment)

The CFTC Divisions of Clearing and Risk, Market Oversight, and Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued a no-action letter to Southwest Power Pool, its members and certain of its Integrated Marketplace participants, allowing them to continue to operate while the CFTC considers a petition filed by Southwest Power Pool in October 2013.The petition requested exemptive relief pursuant to CEA Section 4(c)(6) from certain CEA provisions and CFTC rules for specified transactions that are offered or entered into pursuant to Southwest Power Pool's FERC-approved tariff. These transactions are to be offered on Southwest Power Pool's Integrated Marketplace, which is scheduled to commence operations on March 1, 2014.

Lofchie Comment: It is difficult to believe that Congress anticipated that Dodd-Frank would regulate transactions of the type described in the letter.

See: CFTC Letter 14-18.