The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (Commission’s) Division of Market Oversight (Division) has issued a letter providing temporary relief from the requirements of the Commission’s regulations regarding large trader reporting of physical commodity swaps (§§20.3 and 20.4). 

Because this is the first time that swaps data is being collected, this temporary relief is intended to provide sufficient time to enable both the industry and the Commission to develop and refine systems and processes that will be able to report these complex transactions.

On July 22, 2011, the Commission published large trader reporting rules for physical commodity swaps and swaptions. The rules require daily reports from clearing organisations, clearing members and swap dealers, and become effective on September 20, 2011. The letter issued today provides temporary relief from reporting, as long as parties are making a good faith attempt to comply with the reporting requirements, until November 21, 2011, for cleared swaps, and January 20, 2012, for uncleared swaps.  Upon the conclusion of applicable relief periods, such reporting parties must become fully compliant.