ICE asks CFTC to extend relief related to COVID-19 pandemic
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has published a notice regarding certain relief granted in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Temporary no-action relief granted by the CFTC to registered U.S. intermediaries in response to the COVID 19 pandemic is set to expire on January 15, 2021. ICE has asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to extend such relief, however, if no extension is granted the relief from various Exchange rules detailed in the Exchange notices issued on March 13 and 18, 2020, June 10, 2020, and September 14, 2020 will also expire on January 15, 2021.
While ICE believes that relief will be extended to permit Floor Brokers and other individuals to continue to work from locations other than the trading floor or the premises of an entity registered to conduct customer business, it is unclear what, if any, relief will be extended with respect to
- written recordkeeping and
- oral recording requirements under CFTC Regulation 1.35.
If the temporary relief with respect to CFTC Regulation 1.35 is not extended, the corresponding relief granted by the Exchange with respect to the Exchange requirements concerning the written recording and timestamping of customer orders and the oral recording requirements will also expire. If that happens, affected individuals must be able to fully comply with the requirements of CFTC Regulation 1.35 and corresponding Exchange rules in order to continue to handle customer orders.
Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action by the Exchange and/or the CFTC, ICE warns.
CME Group has also engaged in talks with the CFTC asking the regulator to extend the regulatory relief.