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CFTC staff no-action letter lets clearing organizations use trust companies for daily…

USSource: CFTC Division of Clearing and Risk

  • In CFTC Letter No. 26-30, dated 5 November 2026, the Division of Clearing and Risk said it will not recommend enforcement action against any derivatives clearing organization (DCO) that uses a trust company to conduct daily settlements with clearing members, if the DCO treats the trust company as if it were a settlement bank for compliance with Regulations 39.14(c) and (d).
  • The request came from Nodal Clear, LLC, which noted that Regulation 39.14 defines a settlement bank as "a bank" while the CFTC's customer-funds rules refer to a "bank or trust company", and represented that state-regulated trust companies are among the leading custodians of digital assets and that the clarification would help DCOs accept such assets as margin collateral.
  • The letter represents the Division's views only and is not binding on the Commission.

Why it matters

Banks that act as DCO settlement banks may see state-regulated trust companies, which the requester described as leading digital-asset custodians, compete for daily settlement flows as clearing organizations look to accept digital assets as margin collateral.

Read the original: CFTC Division of Clearing and Risk ↗

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More detail

Who is affected

Derivatives clearing organizations, their clearing members, and trust companies used for daily settlement.

Key dates

  • Nodal Clear submits no-action request
  • Division of Clearing and Risk issues No-Action Letter 26-30

What remains uncertain

  • The letter represents the views of the Division only, is not binding on the Commission and depends on Nodal's representations.

Key facts

Event
No-action letter
Jurisdiction
US
Source
CFTC Division of Clearing and Risk
Source tier
Tier 1 · Regulator / central bank
Product
Custody & trading
How we verified this

The source says

“Based on the facts presented and the representations Nodal has made, the Division will not recommend that the Commission take enforcement action against any DCO for using a trust company to conduct daily settlements with clearing members, if the DCO treats the trust company as if it were a settlement bank for the purpose of compliance with Regulations 39.14(c) and (d).”

“Finally, Nodal represents that state-regulated trust companies are among the leading custodians of digital assets.”

Requester's representation, as set out in the letter

“Nodal further states that clarifying that DCOs may use trust companies to conduct daily settlements with clearing members will facilitate the ability of DCOs to accept such assets as margin collateral by allowing them to seamlessly integrate such assets into their existing daily workflows for collateral movement.”

Requester's stated rationale

Verbatim from CFTC Division of Clearing and Risk, matched word for word against the live page on 7 November 2026.

Sources

Evidence

Confidence
High Primary source (regulator / official record); quote string-matched against the live page.
Quote verified
2026-11-07 16:56 UTC
Archived snapshot
SHA-256 1b933a73b13f081f… · fetched 2026-11-07
Change log (1)
  1. 2026-11-07 Published

Full evidence record · How we label confidence

AI-assisted: the summary and analysis were drafted with AI from the primary source and checked by the editors. AI-drafted from the primary source; quote string-matched against the live source page.

Methodology · How we classify sources · Corrections · Report an error

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