On December 16, 2014, the CFTC issued No-action Letter 14-147 (No-action 14-147), which further extends temporary relief to members of designated contract markets (DCMs) and swap execution facilities (SEFs) that are commodity trading advisers (CTAs) until December 31, 2015 from the requirement under CFTC Regulation 1.35(a) to record all oral communications made in connection with the execution of a swap (see Legal Update, CFTC Extends Relief from Dodd-Frank Oral Recording Requirement to Certain Advisors). This rule was previously scheduled to take effect on December 31, 2014.

Amended Regulation 1.35(a) requires DCM and SEF "members" to keep "full, complete, and systematic records, which include all pertinent data and memoranda, of all transactions relating to its business of dealing in commodity interests and related cash or forward transactions." The systematic records required include "all oral and written communications provided or received concerning quotes, solicitations, bids, offers, instructions, trading and prices that lead to the execution of a transaction in a commodity interest and related cash or forward transaction, whether communicated by telephone, voicemail, facsimile, instant messaging, chat rooms, electronic mail, mobile device, or other digital or electronic media."

Regulation 1.35(a) states that the requirement to record oral communications does not apply to certain enumerated persons, including commodity pool operators and members of a DCM or SEF that are not registered or required to be registered with the CFTC in any capacity. However, CTAs are not among the exempted entities, so as a practical matter the relief is directed only to CTAs.

Relief from the Regulation 1.35(a) requirement to record oral communications originally granted under the following no-action letters was originally set to expire on May 1, 2014: