On December 8, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved two final rules related to margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers (SD) and major swap participants (MSP).
Continue Reading CFTC Unanimously Approves Final Rules Related to Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants

On December 4, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Market Participants Division (MPD) and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) jointly issued no-action relief, effective immediately, to provide greater certainty to the global marketplace in connection with the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The relief permits market participants to transfer certain swaps to an affiliate without such swaps becoming subject to the CFTC’s swap clearing requirement or uncleared swap margin requirement. The relief applies to transfers that occur up to one year following the conclusion of the transition period.
Continue Reading CFTC Staff Provides Further Brexit-Related Relief to Provide Market Certainty

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold a virtual open meeting on Tuesday, December 8 at 9:30 a.m. (ET).

At the meeting, the CFTC will consider, among other things, final rules on (1) electronic trading risk principles, (2) audit trail, financial resources and CCO requirements for swap execution facilities, (3) exemptions from swap trade execution requirement, (4) Part 190 bankruptcy regulations, and (5) margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers and major swap participants.
Continue Reading CFTC to Hold an Open Commission Meeting on December 8

On October 22, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, at their first-ever joint open meeting, approved (1) a joint final rule to lower the margin requirement for an unhedged security futures position from 20 percent to 15 percent, which was approved over the dissents of Commissioners Lee and Crenshaw of

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

On October 8, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it will hold an open meeting on October 15.
Continue Reading CFTC Announces Open Commission Meeting to Consider Final Rules on Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps, Registration Exemptions for Foreign Intermediaries and Derivative Position Limits

On August 31, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) issued a no-action letter (No-Action Letter 20-25) relating to the swap clearing requirement promulgated pursuant to section 2(h)(1)(A) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and codified in Part 50 of the CFTC’s regulations (Clearing Requirement).
Continue Reading CFTC No-Action Letter 20-25: CFTC Provides Time-Limited Relief from the Swap Clearing Requirement

At an open meeting on July 22, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission heard presentations on three proposals for changes to the margin requirements for uncleared swaps. The proposed changes, which originate from recommendations made by the Margin Subcommittee of the CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee (GMAC), are as follows:
Continue Reading CFTC Proposes Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps

On June 25, the five prudential regulators responsible for the margin rules for bank swap dealers (the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Farm Credit Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency) adopted one final rule and one interim final rule that modify their original framework for margining uncleared swaps.
Continue Reading Prudential Regulators Revise Initial Margin Rules for Uncleared Swaps

On May 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Global Markets Advisory Committee approved a report that contains several recommendations for action by the CFTC with respect to the implementation of its initial margin (IM) rules for uncleared swaps. The recommendations are focused on the unique challenges faced by small end users of swaps and entities that engage in swap activity through separate managed accounts (SMAs).
Continue Reading CFTC GMAC Recommendations Concerning Initial Margin for Swaps