U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION GRANTS RELIEF FROM COMMODITY POOL OPERATOR OBLIGATIONS CONCERNING INSURANCE-LINKED SECURITIZATION (“ILS”) VEHICLES
In CFTC Letter No. 14-145 Exemption (November 12, 2014) and CFTC Letter No. 14-152 No-Action (December 18, 2014), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) exempted entities engaging in insurance-linked securities (“ILS”) transactions from commodity pool operator registration requirements, subject to certain conditions as specified by each respective letter. The above-referenced letters requested no- action or exemption relief from the CFTC’s commodity pool obligations because the definition of “commodity interest” under Section 1a(10) of the Commodities Exchange Act (“CEA”) was expanded under the Dodd-Frank Act, to include swaps, and could subject an ILS Issuer to be considered a commodity pool and require registration with the CFTC. It is noteworthy that among the conditions for relief in each letter, active management of the assets and liabilities over the lifetime of the Issuer is prohibited.
This post written by Kelly A. Cruz-Brown.
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