Prudential Regulators and CFTC Re-Propose Margin Requirement Rules for Uncleared Swaps

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (collectively, the “Prudential Regulators”) published proposed rules for public comment in the Federal Register on September 24, 2014, regarding margin requirements for uncleared swaps and security-based swaps applicable to entities subject to their jurisdiction (e.g., registered swap dealers and major swap participants that are U.S. or foreign banks). The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) followed suit, publishing its proposed margin rules for uncleared swaps entered into by entities subject to its jurisdiction (e.g., registered swap dealers and major swap participants that are not U.S. or foreign banks) on October 3, 2014. The comment periods for the two rulemaking proposals close on November 24, 2014 and December 2, 2014, respectively.

OVERVIEW OF PROPOSED MARGIN RULES -

Both proposals are re-proposals of margin rules that the Prudential Regulators and the CFTC previously proposed in 2011. The re-proposals were made in response to comments received and the publication of the Final Policy Framework for Margin Requirements for Non-centrally Cleared Derivatives, published in September 2013 by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“BCBS / IOSCO Final Policy Framework”). In general, the re-proposals would...