NYMEX Parent CME Group Dropped a Lawsuit

NYMEX parent CME Group has dropped a lawsuit in which it sought to prevent the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission from enacting certain swap reporting rules.

In a Thursday filing with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, CME said it "voluntarily dismisses this action without prejudice."

A spokesperson for the CFTC could not be immediately reached for comment.

CME originally filed its suit on November 8, seeking to prevent the CFTC from requiring non-public reporting of cleared swap transactions to outside repositories. At the time, the agency had not approved CME's application to register as an swaps data repository.

The CFTC last week provisionally okayed CME's application and on Wednesday began seeking public comment on the associated amendment to CME's rules. Under this amendment, swaps trades cleared through CME's clearinghouse would be reported to its SDR division.

But the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., which had filed as an intervenor in the federal case alongside the CFTC, criticized the agency for its "unexplained and ... abrupt reversal of course" in its actions regarding CME.

"This action is inconsistent with the commission's previous actions, and will cause market participants to question the finality of any commission rule or interpretation," DTCC said in a statement Thursday. "This will ultimately disrupt the progress the industry and regulators have achieved so far to implement the financial reforms mandated by the Dodd-Frank [Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection] Act."

DTCC said the Dodd-Frank Act "made it clear for nearly a year that clearinghouses must provide open access and that data repositories cannot bundle other services as CME Group proposes."