On December 19 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved, by seriatim, amendments to a July 14, 2011 temporary exemptive relief order (the July 14 Order) pertaining to the effective date for swap regulation under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act). The amendments to the July 14 Order were proposed in October and were subject to a 30-day public comment period. CFTC staff also revised a no-action relief letter pertaining to certain self-effectuating provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that are not addressed by the July 14 Order or the amendments thereto.

The general effective date for Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act was July 16, 2011 – 360 days after the Dodd-Frank Act’s enactment. Recognizing that the vast majority of its rules were not finalized, the CFTC issued the July 14 Order to provide market participants with regulatory certainty regarding Title VII’s applicability. The July 14 Order provides exemptive relief from certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act until the earlier of: (1) the effective date of certain CFTC final rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act; or (2) December 31, 2011.