The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an amended order that expands the list of acceptable legal entity identifiers (LEIs) for purposes of swap data reporting and recordkeeping obligations under Parts 45 and 46 of the CFTC Regulations. The original order, which was issued on July 23, 2012, required registered entities and swap counterparties to satisfy their LEI obligations by using CFTC Interim Compliant Identifiers (CICIs) provided by DTCC-SWIFT until a global LEI system is established.

Pursuant to the amended order, once the CFTC’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) publishes on the CFTC’s website a notice that the European Securities and Markets Authority will recognize LEIs issued by DTCC-SWIFT for data reporting purposes, registered entities and swap counterparties will be able to use LEIs provided by either DTCC-SWIFT (referred to as CICIs) or German issuer WM Datenservice (referred to as General Entity Identifiers), to satisfy their swap data reporting and recordkeeping obligations. Similarly, the CFTC will allow registered entities and swap counterparties to used identifiers provided by other issuers once the CIO publishes on the CFTC’s website that (i) CFTC staff have verified that such issuer meets certain LEI standards and (ii) each jurisdiction that accepts such issuer’s identifiers also accepts DTCC-SWIFT’s identifiers.

Once a global system is adopted, registered entities and swap counterparties may use LEIs provided by DTCC-SWIFT, WM Datenservice or any other issuer that has been listed by the CIO on the CFTC’s website as globally acceptable. Each registered entity and swap counterparty must ensure that it satisfies all swap data reporting and recordkeeping obligations using a single LEI. 

The CFTC’s amended order is available here.