On 3 June 2019, ISDA, SIFMA and the GFMA wrote a letter to the CFTC, the Fed, the US Treasury, the SEC, the FDIC, the Farm Credit Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency seeking clarification that covered swap entities do not have to comply with the documentation requirements of the uncleared margin rules unless […]

Risk Magazine is reporting today about the keynote speech given by Patrick Pearson (Head of the Financial Market Infrastructure and Derivatives unit at the European Commission) at the OpRisk Europe conference in London earlier today.  He is reported to have hinted that a delay in the implementation of the final phase of the IM rules […]

Banks have spent the last four years gamely preparing for and complying with IM regulations. Phases 1-3 have been challenging, the current phase 4 promises more of the same. The market has long been aware that phases 1-4 are mere kittens to the phase 5 (probably angry) tiger. Useful initiatives- negotiation platforms, custodian portals, standardised […]

Lehman Brothers International (Europe) v ExxonMobil Financial Services BV [2016] EWHC 2699 (Comm) Whilst many know of the infamous collapse of Lehman Brothers, not many are aware of how the fallout from this has helped to clarify important business terms. In a recent dispute between Lehman Brothers (Lehman) and ExxonMobil (Exxon), the High Court was […]

Hot on the heels of ESMA’s 31 January 2019 ‘blind eye’ statement, on 5 February 2019, the EU Council issued a press release confirming it had reached agreement with the EU Parliament on certain aspects of the EMIR REFIT programme. Broadly, the changes are that: A new category of “small financial counterparty” will be created. […]

DRS recently hosted a well-attended IM Breakfast Roundtable at the Gherkin. A distinguished list of panellists included Mayer Brown’s Ed Parker, Margin Reform‘s Chetan Joshi and Bank of New York Mellon’s Mark Higgins. Focused primarily on the imminent challenges of IM Phase 4, participants were drawn from the sellside; the event’s success effectively mandates a […]

On 23 January 2019, the FCA published Consultation Paper CP19/4*** “Optimising the Senior Managers & Certification Regime and feedback to DP16/4 – Overall responsibility and the legal function” (the “Consultation Paper”).  The consultation period closes on 23 April 2019, with a Policy Statement slated for Q3 2019 and a ‘go live’ date for the new […]

The deadline for compliance with Phase 4 and Phase 5 of the IM requirements is miles away, isn’t it?  Isn’t it…? The truth is that, whether you like it or not, the clock is already ticking.  Whether anyone has told you or not, the countdown has already begun. Why worry about it now? The classic […]

Opinions obviously vary, but for me there are very few opportunities to be glad not to be Australian. Here is one for already punch-drunk IM lawyers and compliance personnel. The largest four banks in New Zealand are Australian-owned- ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac. New Zealand is not a G20 member and has therefore been (relatively) […]