JARED R. GIANATASIO

On March 29, 2023, the National Futures Association (“NFA”) announced the adoption of Compliance Rule 2-51: Requirements for Members and Associates Engaged in Activities Involving Digital Asset Commodities (the “New Rule”),1 which will implement anti-fraud, trading, and supervisory requirements for member firms, including firms registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as commodity pool operators…

On June 1, 2022, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the unsealing of a two-count indictment for wire fraud and money laundering against Nathaniel Chastain, a top executive at Ozone Networks, Inc., d/b/a/…

As discussed in our January 29, 2021 client alert, the ICE Benchmark Administration will cease to publish the most widely used tenors of the USD LIBOR benchmarks on June 30, 2023.1 Additionally, financial institutions have been advised not to utilize the most widely used tenors of the USD LIBOR benchmarks for any financial products that…

Effective January 27, 2021, the Board of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (the “LSTA”) published a revised suite of trading documents to reflect the market’s transition from the use of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) or other alternative risk-free rates (“RFRs”) as a key benchmark for…

The ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”) announced earlier this week that it will consult on its intention to extend publication of the overnight and one-, three-, six-, and 12-month USD LIBOR rates until June 30, 2023. The June 2023 extension, however, applies only to legacy contracts—no new USD LIBOR contracts will be permitted after 2021.1 The…

Following a favorable review from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”) announced on October 9, 2020 that it intends to publish a protocol, along with updates to its standardized documentation to provide for fallback rates and procedures to account for the potential discontinuation of certain…

The LIBOR transition encompasses far-ranging legal issues that impact the investment management industry, including the potential impact on trading and derivatives portfolios, fund performance targets within fund documentation, financing and brokerage arrangements, and a wide range of operational and other issues that need to be considered by managers. Background LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) is…

On May 28, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) approved proposed amendments to CFTC Regulation 3.10(c), which currently provides a jurisdictional based registration exemption for non-U.S. commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) that operate non-U.S. funds with non-U.S. investors (the “Proposed Amendments”). Historically, the CPO registration exemption available under Regulation 3.10(c)(3) has presented challenges for non-U.S.…

On May 20, 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the “New York Fed”) announced June 17, 2020 as the first subscription date and June 25, 2020 as the first closing date of the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility (“TALF 2.0”). The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System first authorized TALF 2.0 on March…

On May 12, 2020, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Fed”) updated its term sheet of the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility (“TALF 2.0”) that it authorized on March 23, 2020 and updated on April 9, 2020. The full updated term sheet can be found here. The Fed also released a list of frequently asked questions (“FAQs”)…

On April 9, 2020, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Fed”) updated its term sheet of the Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility (“TALF 2.0”) that it authorized on March 23, 2020. The key changes include: updates to the definition of eligible borrower, additions to the types of eligible collateral, changes to loan pricing, and the release of…

On March 23, 2020, the Federal Reserve Board (the “Fed”) authorized the revival of its Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility (“TALF 2.0”) previously established following the 2008 financial crisis. TALF 2.0 is a credit facility intended to support the asset-backed securities (“ABS”) markets for consumers and businesses by creating a new source of stable funding for investors…

On March 20, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) provided temporary no-action relief to registered commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) by extending the filing timeline for certain ongoing reporting/filing obligations. The CFTC’s no-action letter provides an extension for the following:(i) filing Form CPO-PQR under Regulation 4.27, (ii) submitting pool annual reports under Regulations 4.7(b)(3)…

On March 18, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) voted unanimously to extend the uncleared swap initial margin compliance timeline for financial entities with smaller swap portfolios from September 1, 2020 to September 1, 2021. Phase 6 Compliance Group The newly created “Phase 6” compliance group will provide many private funds and other…

With the increasing concerns surrounding the impact of COVID-19 around the world, global financial markets are facing a unique set of difficulties. Fund managers, family offices and other buy-side market participants should consider reviewing their counterparty trading and brokerage arrangements to understand the impact of these events on their trading portfolios and their counterparties. Below…

Recently, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) approved amendments to Regulations 4.5, 4.7, 4.13, 4.14, and 4.27 that will impact investment managers that are operating funds that fall within the definition of a commodity pool. These new regulations will take effect on January 9, 2020.[1] Some key highlights of the amendments include: •…

Beginning January 31, 2021, all swap associated persons and their supervisors (“APs”) will be required to satisfy the National Futures Association’s (the “NFA”) new swaps proficiency requirements. These requirements will apply to, among others, APs of investment managers registered with the NFA as commodity pool operators (“CPOs”) or commodity trading advisors (“CTAs”) that engage in…