Regulators from the US and EU met on 8 July to host a meeting of the Financial Markets Regulatory Dialogue. Each side brought an alphabet of agencies, subjects covered included key G20 reforms: Basel II capital\leverage\liquidity rules, respective implementation of derivatives reforms, and resolution planning[1]. Derivatives– a mutual pledge to provide greater certainty regarding trading, […]

The CFTC has extended the reopened comment period for its latest efforts to impose position limits on participants in the commodity derivatives market. The Position Limits Proposal and the Aggregation Proposal are the “unassailable” formulation, following the legal rejection of its predecessor on the grounds of ambiguity and lack of necessity. The controversial proposals have […]

In an unusually forthright speech yesterday, Michel Barnier stretched the limits of polite diplomatic language, almost explicitly implying that the EU grant of CCP equivalence will be withheld from the US pending the CFTC’s own recognition of the EU’s equivalency. “I intend to propose shortly that the European Commission adopt ‘equivalence’ decisions that will allow […]

The CFTC yesterday gave notice of an extension to no-action letter 13-34, exempting SDs and MSPs from their obligation to report cleared valuation data. The latest link in the no-action daisy chain, Letter 14-90, adds a full year to the relief which now expires on 30 June 2015. The letter applies to all SD/MSP reporting […]

The House of Congress has passed the bill to reauthorise CFTC appropriations to 2018. H.R. 4413, the Consumer Protection and End User Relief Act, aims to substantially limit the Agency’s powers and orders the CFTC to clarify the cross-border regulatory fog. Passed 265-144 along partisan lines, the bill has been handed to the Senate, where […]

The FT reports that the EU is threatening to effectively derail the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks, unless the US includes coordination of financial regulation as part of the package. Leaked documents confirm that the EU intends to up the ante by excluding discussion on all financial services, a move that would significantly […]

Prompted by yesterday’s authorisation of LCH. Clearnet Ltd. and perhaps by the “no exemptions” comment by a CFTC official, the FCA has suggested a convoluted workaround for EU CCPs who are caught in the US client asset catch 22. Article 39 EMIR, as clarified by Question CCP 8i ESMA Q&A, stipulates that a European CCP […]

An interesting snippet in today’s Risk magazine provides a further clue to the rapidly-evolving culture at the CFTC. Ananda Radhakrishnan, the Agency’s Director of the Division of Clearing and Risk, told a conference in London yesterday, “The first response cannot be: ‘CFTC, you have to provide an exemption.’ I say: why? I’m tired of providing […]

Like the dehydrated Ancient Mariner adrift in the ocean, regulators are surrounded by data, but are unable to use it. Mandatory trade reporting under Dodd-Frank and EMIR has been painful, expensive and problematic. Even in the context of lacklustre LEI uptake, the EMIR February 2014 reporting explosion saw trade repositories overwhelmed. Regulators recognise that overall […]