CFTC Staff Letter 14-123: No-Action Relief and Exemption for ICE Clear Europe Limited Regarding Bank of England Customer Accounts

U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
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Facsimile: (202) 418-5547 aradhakrishnan@cftc.gov Division of Clearing and Risk Ananda Radhakrishnan Director CFTC Letter No. 14-123 No-Action; Exemption Division of Clearing and Risk President and Managing Director ICE Clear Europe Limited 60 Chiswell Street London EC1Y 4SA RE: Request for No-Action Relief from the Written Acknowledgment Requirements in Commission Regulation 1.20(g)(4); Request for Interpretation or, in the alternative, Exemptive or No-Action Relief with regard to Commission Regulation 1.49(d)(3) Dear Mr. Swann:
This is in response to your letter dated September 22, 2014 (“Letter”), to the Division of Clearing and Risk (“Division”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission”). In the Letter, you request that the Division confirm that it will not recommend that the Commission take enforcement action against ICE Clear Europe Limited (“ICE”) for failing to obtain, or provide the Commission with, an executed version of the template acknowledgment letter set forth in Appendix B to Regulation 1.20 (“Template Acknowledgment Letter”), as required by Regulation 1.20(g)(4), for customer accounts maintained at the Bank of England (“BoE”). You additionally request that the Division confirm that the BoE is a qualified depository for customer funds under Regulation 1.49(d)(3)(i) or, in the alternative, absent such confirmation, that the Division grant either exemptive or no-action relief with respect to ICE’s holding of customer funds at the BoE.
I. No-Action Relief from the Written Acknowledgment Requirements in Commission
Regulation 1.20(g)(4)
Regulation 1.20(g)(4) requires, among other things, that a derivatives clearing organization (“DCO”) obtain a Template Acknowledgment Letter from each depository with