Law and Regulation
2010 Exemptive, No-Action, and Interpretative Letters
CFTC staff issues written guidance concerning the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission's regulations, principally in the form of responses to requests for exemptive, no-action, and interpretative letters. Letters published prior to 2008 are available in the CFTC Staff Letter Archive.
Persons requesting staff letters must follow the requirements set forth in CFTC Regulation 140.99.
CFTC Regulation 140.99 defines three types of staff letters–exemptive letters, no-action letters, and interpretative letters–that differ in terms of scope and effect. The public and practitioners are cautioned that it is the staff's denomination of a letter as exemptive, no-action, or interpretative that is controlling and how a publication service or other party labels a CFTC staff letter has no legal effect.
Additional information on the applicability of definitions of exemptive, no-action, and interpretative letters is provided in CFTC Advisory 16-99.
2010 Letters
10-01; Part 1 and Part 30; Interpretation; January 22, 2010
DCIO responded to a request for guidance from the Joint Audit Committee (JAC) as to investments of customer funds by futures commission merchants (FCMs) in corporate debt securities guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) under its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP). The letter sets forth the conditions under which TLGP securities guaranteed by the FDIC may be permitted investments for customer segregated funds under Regulation 1.25 or customer secured amount funds under Regulation 30.7, and further specifies the necessary haircuts to FCM adjusted net capital under Regulation 1.17. The letter also provides guidance to the JAC as to whether, and to what extent, Regulation 1.32 permits offsets of FCM customer account deficits against TLGP securities the customer has deposited for its account with the FCM. (DCIO)