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DIVISION OF MARKET OVERSIGHT AND OFFICE OF DATA AND TECHNOLOGY 

ADVISORY REGARDING UPCOMING LEGAL ENTITY IDENTIFIER DEADLINE

A. PURPOSE

Reminder of imminent April 10 deadline for obtaining LEIs. The Division of Market 

Oversight (“DMO”) and the Office of Data and Technology (“ODT”) of the Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) issue this advisory to remind swap market 

participants of important obligations they have under the Commission’s swap data recordkeeping 

and reporting rules with respect to legal entity identifiers (“LEIs”), and of an approaching April 

10, 2013, deadline for compliance applicable to all swap market participants.

B. SUMMARY

 LEIs, currently known as CICIs, are required for all swap market participants.

 The source for obtaining CICIs is the CICI Utility, available at www.ciciutility.org.

 All swap counterparties must obtain a CICI before April 10, 2013.

 For CICIs previously issued through third-party registration, the entity must self-certify 

the CICI data record before April 10, 2013. Entities that obtain CICIs through selfregistration or assisted registration with permission do not need to also self-certify.

 All swap counterparties must maintain their own CICIs after issuance, including periodic 

recertification.

 All swap counterparties must use their CICIs in recordkeeping and swap data reporting.

 DMO and ODT suggest two immediate steps to ensure compliance with CICI 

requirements:

o Each swap counterparty should visit www.ciciutility.org and check its CICI 

status.

o Swap dealers should contact each of their counterparties regarding CICIs.

C. BACKGROUND

LEIs are required for all swap market participants. Part 45 of the Commission’s 

regulations establishes recordkeeping and data reporting requirements for swaps subject to the 

Commission’s jurisdiction.1 Section 45.6, Legal entity identifiers, provides that each 

counterparty to any swap subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission must be identified in all 

recordkeeping and all swap data reporting by means of a single legal entity identifier (“LEI”) 

issued pursuant to CFTC rules.2 As noted in Part 45, LEIs are essential data aggregation tools 

for the Commission and other financial regulators charged with fulfilling the systemic risk 

mitigation, market transparency, and market abuse prevention purposes of the Dodd-Frank Act.

 

1

17 CFR part 45, Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements, 77 FR 2136 (Jan. 13, 2012), 

http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@lrfederalregister/documents/file/2011-33199a.pdf.

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Id. at 2204.
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LEIs are currently known as CICIs. On July 23, 2012, the Commission issued an 

Order (the “July 23 Order”) designating the provider of LEIs to be used in recordkeeping and 

swap data reporting pursuant to CFTC regulations.3 As noted in the Order, the Commission is a 

participant in an international process, now led by an international Regulatory Oversight 

Committee of which the Commission is a member, to establish a global LEI system. As 

provided in the Order, at the request of other international financial regulators participating in 

this international process, the Commission currently refers to the identifier required to be used in 

compliance with Part 45 as the CFTC Interim Compliant Identifier (“CICI”). Once the global 

LEI system becomes operational, the Commission anticipates that CICIs will transition into the 

global LEI system and be referred to as LEIs. 

Source for obtaining CICIs. The July 23 Order designated DTCC-SWIFT as the 

provider of the LEIs (currently CICIs) to be used in complying with Part 45, and directed 

registered entities and swap counterparties subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction to use CICIs 

provided by DTCC-SWIFT for that purpose. CICIs are available from the CICI Utility operated 

by DTCC-SWIFT, through the CICI Utility web portal available at www.ciciutility.org.

Deadline for obtaining CICIs. Pursuant to Part 45, and taking into account no-action 

relief granted by DMO in Commission Letters Nos. 12-324and 12-41,

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the compliance dates on 

which registered entities and swap counterparties must commence full compliance with the 

requirement to obtain and use a CICI, as well as with all other provisions of CFTC’s swap data 

recordkeeping and reporting rules, are as follows: 

 December 31, 2012 – Deadline for swap dealers (“SDs”), swap data repositories 

(“SDRs”), designated contract markets (“DCMs”), and derivatives clearing organizations 

(“DCOs”) to obtain and use CICIs in all recordkeeping and swap data reporting with 

regard to credit swaps and interest rate swaps.

 February 28, 2013 – Deadline for SDs, SDRs, DCMs, and DCOs to obtain and use CICIs 

in all recordkeeping and swap data reporting with regard to equity swaps, foreign 

exchange swaps, and other commodity swaps, and for major swap participants (“MSPs”) 

to do the same with respect to all swaps.

 April 10, 2013 – Deadline for all non-SD/MSP swap counterparties to obtain and use 

CICIs in all recordkeeping and swap data reporting with respect to all swaps.

 

3

77 FR 53870 (Sept. 4, 2012), http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@newsroom/documents/file/

federalregister072412c.pdf.

4 Commission Letter No. 12-32, “Time Limited No-Action Relief for Swap Dealers from Certain Swap Data 

Reporting Requirements of Part 43, Part 45 and Part 46 of the Commission’s Regulations” (November 19, 2012).

5 Commission Letter No. 12-41, “No-Action Relief for Swap Dealers from Certain Swap Data Reporting 

Requirements of Part 43, Part 45 and Part 46 of the Commission’s Regulations Due to Effects of Hurricane Sandy” 

(December 5, 2012).
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D. CICI REQUIREMENTS.

As Commission staff made clear in the Q & A on Start of Swap Data Reporting issued on 

October 10, 2012,6and in the Operational Guidance to the CICI Utility issued on March 10, 

2013,7pursuant to Part 45, all swap counterparties are subject to the following CICI 

requirements:

 Obtain a CICI before April 10, 2013. Each swap counterparty subject to the 

Commission’s jurisdiction must obtain a CICI by the compliance date applicable to that 

counterparty, and use the CICI in required recordkeeping as well as in required swap data 

reporting. This means that all swap counterparties, even those that are not SDs or MSPs, 

and even those not required to report swap data, must obtain a CICI before April 10, 

2013. It also means that all SDs and MSPs must already have CICIs.

 For CICIs issued through third-party registration, self-certify the CICI data record 

before April 10, 2013. If a CICI has been obtained for a counterparty through thirdparty registration, without the explicit permission of the counterparty, the counterparty 

must validate or certify its own CICI data record with the CICI Utility before April 10, 

2013. An entity that receives a CICI through self-registration, or assisted registration 

with explicit permission from the entity identified, does not need to self-certify its CICI 

data record when its CICI is issued, in addition to self-registering for its CICI. Selfregistration includes assisted registration with permission, and self-registration 

constitutes self-certification. 

 Maintain the CICI after issuance, including periodic recertification. Each entity 

must maintain its own CICI after it is issued, keeping its reference data current and 

accurate, and re-certifying the record at appropriate intervals. This includes entities 

receiving CICIs through assisted registration with permission, as well as entities whose 

CICIs were issued through self-registration or third party registration.

 Use the CICI in recordkeeping and reporting. All swap counterparties must use CICIs 

in both recordkeeping and reporting after the applicable compliance date. Non-reporting 

counterparties must provide their CICIs to their reporting counterparties, and reporting 

counterparties must then report the CICIs of their counterparties as well as their own.

E. SUGGESTED STEPS TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE

DMO and ODT urge swap counterparties to take the following steps immediately, to 

ensure compliance with Part 45 CICI requirements:

 

6

http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@newsroom/documents/file/startreporting_qa_final.pdf.

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http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6526-13.
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 Each swap counterparty should check its CICI status. Each swap counterparty should 

log on to the CICI Utility web portal at www.ciciutility.org to check its CICI status.

o If the counterparty does not have a CICI, it should self-register for a CICI without 

delay.

o If the CICI Utility database already contains a CICI for the counterparty, the 

counterparty should (a) check the accuracy of its CICI reference data and make 

any needed corrections, and (b) self-certify the CICI if it was issued through thirdparty registration.

 Dealers should contact counterparties regarding CICIs. SDs and other reporting 

counterparties should (a) contact each of their swap counterparties to determine whether 

the counterparty has a CICI, (b) obtain the counterparty’s CICI for reporting purposes if 

the CICI has already been issued, and (c) remind the counterparty of its obligation to 

obtain a CICI before April 10 if the counterparty does not yet have a CICI.