The CFTC issued an Amended Order which expands the list of permitted issuers of Legal Entity Identifiers ("LEIs") to include various non-U.S. organizations. This will allow, at least over time, an entity that does business internationally to have only one LEI, as opposed to needing an LEI for each jurisdiction in which it does business. See: Amended Order: Legal Entity Identifier and CFTC Press Release.

SIFMA, along with the ABA, ABA Securities Association, FIA, IIB, and ISDA submitted comments to the CFTC requesting a six-month extension of the Commission's Final Exemptive Order Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations. The associations believe an extension would be helpful for the following reasons: First, an extension would provide sufficient time for swap market participants and the CFTC to consider the potential implications of recent SEC proposals relating to its regulation of cross-border security-based swap activities. Second, failing to extend the Exemptive Order without

The CFTC Division of Clearing and Risk ("DCR") issued a time-limited, no-action letter granting relief from required clearing under CEA Section 2(h)(1)(A) ("Standard for Clearing") and CFTC Rules Part 50 ("Clearing Requirement") for certain swaps entered into by qualifying cooperatives. The no-action letter provides that DCR will not recommend enforcement action for a cooperative's failure to clear a swap if the cooperative and the swap meet certain conditions set forth in the no-action letter. To qualify for relief, one of the counterparties to the swap must be a cooperative whose members are

The CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk ("DCR") issued a letter today stating that the DCR will not recommend that the CFTC take enforcement action against the Corporacioacute;n Andina de Fomento ("CAF") for failure to comply with the clearing requirement of CEA Section 2(h)(1) ("Clearing Requirement") as implemented by CFTC Rules 50.2 ("Treatment of swaps subject to a clearing requirement") and 50.4 ("Classes of swaps required to be cleared"). The DCR believes that granting this no-action to CAF would be consistent with the end-user exception to the Clearing Requirement, in which the CFTC

New mandatory clearing requirements for certain interest rate and credit default swap contracts take effect on June 10, 2013, for all state non-member institutions. These requirements apply to any covered transaction entered into on or after June 10, 2013, unless the end-user exception or inter-affiliate exemption under the CFTC rules applies. See: FDIC Advisory and FRB Regulatory Letter. See also:"CFTC Time-Limited No-Action Relief to Small Banks from the Board Approval Requirement of the Clearing Requirement (Letter 13-26) (with Lofchie Comment)." Related News: "OCC Warns Non-Dealer Banks of