On September 22, 2015, the CFTC approved and opened for public comment a supplement to its proposed rulemaking to modify the aggregation provisions of its position limits rules. The CFTC’s supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking revises how the CFTC proposes to address situations when aggregation is required on the basis of ownership of greater than 50% interest in another entity. The Commodity Exchange Act and Part 150 of the Regulations require an owner of more than a 10% interest in commodities to aggregate all its positions. Under the existing aggregation proposal from November 2013, owners of a greater than 50% interest are required to provide specified information and certifications in an application to the CFTC, and then wait for the CFTC’s approval before disaggregating these positions. However, under this Supplemental Proposal, owners of a greater than 50% interest would follow the same procedure that had previously applied to owners of an interest between 10% and 50%, and be able to disaggregate their positions upon meeting specified standards and filing a notice with the CFTC stating that certain specified standards have been met.

In his statement on this proposed supplemental rulemaking, Chairman Massad stated, “It is important to note that the proposed change does not alter the standard of when aggregation is required. Moreover, the Commission retains its authority to call for additional information and modify or terminate an exemption for failure to comply with the standard.” At the September 22^nd meeting, Commissioner Giancarlo said he supports the proposed changes to the aggregation rules because they would make the position limits regime more workable. However, Commissioner Giancarlo cautioned that more changes are necessary in order to make the CFTC’s approach to position limits less harmful to the risk management activities of farmers, energy producers, manufacturers, risk-hedgers, and trading institutions.

The supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking will be open for public comment for 45 days after its publication in the Federal Register. The CFTC continues to consider the November 2013 proposal and the comments on it submitted during multiple earlier comment periods.