CFTC Provides Relief from the Clearing Requirement for Swaps Entered into by Eligible Treasury Affiliates

On November 26, CFTC issued a no-action letter providing additional relief for eligible treasury affiliates that enter into swaps that are subject to the clearing requirement in section 2(h)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and part 50 of the CFTC’s regulations. The no-action letter modifies relief that was previously issued for treasury affiliates on June 4, 2013 in CFTC No-Action Letter 13-22. “Eligible treasury affiliates” are entities that are wholly-owned by a non-financial parent company, and are “financial entities” under section 2(h)(7)(C)(i)(VIII) of the CEA because of the activities undertaken on behalf of its non-financial affiliates. Among other changes, the no-action letter modifies the rules placed upon operations between a treasury affiliate and its affiliates and removes restrictions as to the number of financial affiliates that may be within a corporate group.  Release.  Letter.