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ARTICLE · 19 JANUARY 2026

Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") Seeks To Expand Hedging Options For Energy End-Users

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On December 21, 2025, the CFTC's Market Participants Division issued a no action letter that could materially expand hedging options for commercial energy companies by allowing firms to exclude certain "Energy Commodity End User Swaps" …

United StatesFinance and Banking
Evan Koster
Evan Koster
Michael L. Loesch
Michael L. Loesch
Michael A. Yuffee
Michael A. Yuffee

On December 21, 2025, the CFTC's Market Participants Division ("MPD") issued a no‑action letter that could materially expand hedging options for commercial energy companies by allowing firms to exclude certain "Energy Commodity End‑User Swaps" from the swap dealer de minimis calculation during a pilot period, subject to conditions. This temporary relief is designed to gather market data while potentially lowering hedging costs and expanding counterparty capacity for end‑users in the power, oil, and natural gas sectors. (CFTC Staff No-Action Letter No. 25-51 (MPD), Dec. 19, 2025).1

Background

The Dodd‑Frank Act added the "swap dealer" category to the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA") in 2010 to bring over‑the‑counter derivatives under a comprehensive regulatory framework. Entities that hold themselves out as dealers in swaps, make a market in swaps, or regularly enter into swaps in the ordinary course of business for their own account may be required to register as

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