On April 8, the Market Participants Division (MPD), Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR), Division of Data (DOD) and Division of Market Oversight (DMO) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission jointly issued no-action relief, effective immediately, to maintain the regulatory status quo for swap dealers (SD) following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the

On April 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted to take two actions in the implementation of security-based swap regulation under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).
Continue Reading SEC Issues Notice of Substituted Compliance Application and Proposed Substituted Compliance Order for United Kingdom and Reopens Comment Period for Notice and Proposed Substituted Compliance Order for France

On February 17, the European Commission (the Commission) published two Delegated Regulations amending the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) Margin Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and the Clearing Obligation RTS (the Delegated Regulations).

The key amendments proposed by the Commission in the Margin RTS include:
Continue Reading European Commission Publishes Delegated Regulations Under EMIR on Risk Mitigation and Clearing Obligation

On October 15, at the same open meeting in which it approved the final rule on position limits, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission unanimously approved two other unrelated final rules.

The first final rule extends the compliance date one year, from September 1, 2021 to September 1, 2022, for margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers and major swap participants for which there is no banking regulator. This rule will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading CFTC Approves Certain Final Rules Amending Margin Requirements for Certain Uncleared Swaps and Exemptions From Registration for Certain Foreign Intermediaries

Katten hosts a weekly, 15-minute fireside chat podcast series on notable UK and European developments from the prior week’s Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest. This week, Carolyn Jackson covers the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s approval of the final cross-border swaps rule, including a discussion of the CFTC’s revised rules applicable to non-US swap dealers

On November 25, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets issued guidance intended to facilitate certain substituted compliance applications submitted by non-US security-based swap dealers and/or major security-based swap participants (Guidance). 
Continue Reading SEC Issues Guidance on Substituted Compliance Applications by Non-US Security-Based Swap Dealers and Major Security-Based Swap Participants

On October 13, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the European Commission (EC) made three announcements that are significant for cross-border swap activity between the United States and Europe.

  1. CFTC Margin Rule Comparability Determination.

The CFTC has made a determination that the margin rules for uncleared swaps that apply in the European Union are comparable to the CFTC’s margin rules. This determination activates the substituted compliance provisions found in Section 23.160(b)(2)(iii) of the CFTC margin rules that until now have not been available to EU entities registered as swap dealers.
Continue Reading Three Developments Concerning EU-US Cross-Border Swaps

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, the Division of Clearing and Risk and the Division of Market Oversight (collectively, the Divisions) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have extended relief previously provided in a series of previous no-action letters relating to transaction-level requirements for non-US swap dealers (non-US SDs). Specifically, the Divisions have granted relief to non-US SDs from certain specified “transaction-level requirements” when using personnel or agents located in the United States to arrange, negotiate or execute swaps with non-US persons that are not guaranteed affiliates or conduit affiliates of a US person.
Continue Reading CFTC Extends Relief From Transaction-Level Requirements for Non-US Swap Dealers