No-Action Letter

On May 28, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved an interim final rule in order to grant an extension of the compliance schedule for uncleared swaps in response to the many operational challenges entities are facing in the wake of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. It also approved a proposed rule exempting certain foreign persons from registration as a commodity pool operator (CPO). Recently, the CFTC extended previous waves of no-action relief in response to the coronavirus.
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Continue Reading CFTC Approves Both Interim Final Rule and a Proposed Rule and Extends No-Action Relief in Response to Covid-19

On March 31, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) announced the release of a targeted, temporary no-action letter aimed at foreign affiliates of futures commission merchants (FCMs).  This relief is meant to ease regulatory burdens in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic.  In short, the relief relaxes restrictions on CFTC registrants’ affiliated foreign brokers by allowing them to address the needs of the registrants’ U.S.-based customers without having to register as introducing brokers.   The CFTC has now issued four waves of no-action relief.  It issued the first two waves on March 17, 2020, and a third wave three days later.
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Continue Reading CFTC Announces Fourth Wave of No-Action Relief in Response to COVID-19

This week, on March 17, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released two announcements (see here and here) regarding a series of no-action letters in response to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.  The CFTC’s announcements come in the wake of high-profile efforts by other financial regulators to quickly address the financial and regulatory…

On September 14, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB” or the “Bureau”) issued a no-action letter for the first time, after having finalized its no-action letter policy in February 2016.  The Bureau’s letter grants a request by Upstart Network, Inc. (“Upstart”), an online lender that uses both traditional and non-traditional credit scoring data, regarding the application of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B to Upstart’s automated model for underwriting applicants for unsecured non-revolving credit.  In its press release accompanying the letter, the Bureau explicitly referenced its ongoing interest in learning more about the benefits and risks of using alternative data in credit scoring, an issue the Bureau raised in February 2017.
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Continue Reading CFPB Issues its First No-Action Letter