On March 12, the Joint Audit Committee issued a regulatory alert and revised templates for segregated, secured and cleared swap customer acknowledgment letters. The revised template letters will help futures commission merchants (FCMs) and depositories achieve compliance with new requirements arising from the enhanced customer protection rules recently adopted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. FCMs and depositories are required by CFTC regulations to use the new template acknowledgment letters for all accounts opened on or after January 13, 2014 and, for all accounts that were opened prior to January 13, 2014, must execute new letters that conform to the template by July 12, 2014. FCMs and depositories must file a copy of all executed acknowledgment letters with the CFTC and the FCM’s designated self-regulatory organization within three business days after the account is opened.

The regulatory alert indicated that the templates will be posted on the Joint Audit Committee’s website, which is available here.