Public Statements & Remarks

Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of Staff No-Action Letter 20-37

October 28, 2022

I support the relief that is being provided through the extension of Staff No-Action Letter 20-37.  But I am concerned that the Commission is continuing to avoid doing the hard work necessary to address the underlying issue here.  Today’s letter extends until December 1, 2025, (or earlier, if a comparability determination is issued) relief that was originally provided in 2013.[1]  Twelve years of no-action relief is inappropriate.  The Commission owes market participants a permanent solution, not a perpetual cycle of requesting and granting staff no-action relief.

I am disappointed that calling for the Commission to stop using temporary (and often successive) band-aids and work-arounds instead of permanent solutions has become somewhat of a refrain from me in my brief time as a Commissioner.[2]  We can and should do better.


[1] See CFTC Letter No. 13-75 (Dec. 20, 2013).

[2] See Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding No-Action Relief to Korea Exchange (October 17, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding No-Action Relief to Korea Exchange | CFTC; Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of No-Action Relief from Certain Position Aggregation Requirements under CFTC Regulation 150.4 (August 10, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger Regarding Extension of No-Action Relief from Certain Position Aggregation Requirements under CFTC Regulation 150.4 | CFTC; Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Extension of No-Action Relief to Shanghai Clearing House (July 26, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Extension of No-Action Relief to Shanghai Clearing House | CFTC; and Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Order of Registration Regarding AEGIS SEF, LLC (July 20, 2022), available at Statement of Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger on Order of Registration Regarding AEGIS SEF, LLC | CFTC.

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