The CFTC has issued an amended order that will allow an additional four multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) authorised within the European Union (EU) to be exempted from the requirement to register with the CFTC as swap execution facilities (SEFs).  

The amended order exempts four United Kingdom-based MTFs – Creditex Brokerage, Currenex, FX Connect, and Thomson Reuters – from SEF registration. These MTFs have been added to the CFTC’s original December 2017 order that exempted certain MTFs and organised trading facilities (OTFs) from the SEF registration requirement.
 
Under the December 2017 order, the CFTC allowed the European Commission to request that additional MTFs and OTFs, which satisfy certain legal requirements, be added to the list of MTFs and OTFs that were granted exempt SEF status under the order. Entities covered by the exemption are subject to certain continuing statutory standards and other requirements under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.
 
CEA section 5h(g) provides that the CFTC may grant an exemption from SEF registration if it determines that a foreign facility is subject to comparable supervision and regulation by the appropriate governmental authorities in the facility’s home country.
 
The new MTFs bring the number of exempted MTFs and OTFs to 20 EU-authorised trading venues.