Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 4/9/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

1

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

17 CFR Chapter I

[RIN ]

Extension of Currently Open Comment Periods for Rulemakings in Response to the 

COVID-19 Pandemic

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Extension of currently open comment periods for rulemakings.

SUMMARY: The coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic may present challenges to

the ability of market participants and other members of the public to submit timely comments on 

the Commission’s proposed rulemakings. Accordingly, the Commission is extending the 

comment period for the rulemakings listed herein until the dates specified herein in order to 

provide market participants and other members of the public an additional period of time to 

comment on the proposed rulemakings.

DATES: For those rulemakings listed herein for which the comment period is being extended, 

comments must be received on or before the dates specified herein.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

CFTC website: comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments 

through the Comments Online process on the website.

Mail: Send to Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the Commission, Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581.

Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail, above.

Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting 

comments.

Please submit your comments using only one method.

To ensure that your comments are considered to the fullest extent possible by the 

Commission, you should identify each of the proposed rulemakings to which your comment 

applies by providing the name and RIN number associated with each rulemaking. 

All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied by an English 

translation. Comments will be posted as received to www.cftc.gov. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider 

information that you believe is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 4/9/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

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(“FOIA”), a petition for confidential treatment of the exempt information may be submitted 

according to the procedures established in § 145.9 of the Commission’s regulations.1

The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to review, pre-screen, 

filter, redact, refuse or remove any or all of your submission from www.cftc.gov that it may deem 

to be inappropriate for publication, such as obscene language. All submissions that have been 

redacted or removed that contain comments on the merits of the rulemaking will be retained in 

the public comment file and will be considered as required under the Administrative Procedure 

Act and other applicable laws, and may be accessible under the FOIA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: On this release, Laura B. Badian, Assistant 

General Counsel, (202) 418-5969, lbadian@cftc.gov; Mark T. Fajfar, Assistant General Counsel, 

(202) 418-6636, mfajfar@cftc.gov, in each case at the Office of the General Counsel, 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581. On 

any particular rulemaking, the Commission staff members listed in the associated notice of 

proposed rulemaking.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Extension of Open Comment Periods on Rulemakings and Request for Comment

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission has worked closely with the 

industry to identify relief or other assistance that may be needed to help ensure the industry can 

support orderly and liquid markets in the face of the coronavirus. These efforts include staff noaction relief letters that offer market participants temporary, tailored relief to mitigate market 

disruptions.2 

The Commission, at its discretion, has traditionally considered comments submitted after 

a comment period closes but before adoption of a final rule or order. Nevertheless, in recognition 

of the challenges that market participants and other interested members of the public may face in 

commenting on proposed rulemakings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission is 

formally extending the comment period for the rulemakings listed herein until the dates specified 

herein.

The Commission is continuing to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on 

derivatives markets and their participants and may consider additional comment period 

extensions and other relief as appropriate.

 

1

17 CFR 145.9. Commission regulations referred to herein are found at 17 CFR chapter I.

2

See, e.g., CFTC Letter No. 20-11 (Mar. 20, 2020) (granting temporary relief for commodity pool operators) and 

CFTC Letter No. 20-12 (Mar. 31, 2020) (granting temporary relief for foreign brokers exempt pursuant to 

Commission Regulation 30.5 to handle U.S. futures market orders). All CFTC staff relief granted in response to 

COVID-19 is available at https://www.cftc.gov/coronavirus.
Voting Draft – As approved by the Commission on 4/9/2020

(subject to technical corrections)

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The comment periods for the following proposed rulemakings are being extended until 

the date specified below:

Title of Rulemaking Date Proposed Original Closing Date 

for Comments 

Extended Closing 

Date for Comments

Position Limits for 

Derivatives

1/30/2020 4/29/2020 Friday, 5/15/2020

Swap Execution 

Facility Requirements 

and Real-Time 

Reporting 

Requirements

1/30/2020 4/20/2020 Friday, 5/22/2020

Certain Swap Data 

Repository and Data 

Reporting 

Requirements

5/13/2019 5/20/2020 (previously 

extended from 

7/29/2019)

Friday, 5/22/2020

Amendments to the 

Real-Time Public 

Reporting 

Requirements

2/20/2020 5/20/2020 Friday, 5/22/2020

Amendments to the 

Swap Data 

Recordkeeping and 

Reporting 

Requirements

2/20/2020 5/20/2020 Friday, 5/22/2020

Issued in Washington, DC on ______, 2020, by the Commission.

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick

Secretary of the Commission