ISDA have today published the first Country Annexe to the 2015 Universal Stay Protocol, adding Spain to the list of Protocol-Eligible regimes. The protocol enables adherents to comply with the cross-border application of specified special resolution regimes (SRRs). Protocol Covered Agreements are amended to include a regime-imposed stay on resolution triggered contract termination. The 2015 […]

Introduction On 7 June 2016, the EU Commission adopted a Delegated Regulation (and related Annex) specifying a minimum set of information on financial contracts that must be maintained by institutions and the circumstances in which the requirement should be imposed, as required by Article 71(7) of the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive[1] (BRRD).  If neither […]

On 7 June 2016, the Fédération Bancaire Française (“FBF”) and ISDA jointly published an Addendum to the ISDA 2016 Credit Support Annex for Variation Margin (VM) (Title Transfer – English law), recently redrafted to comply with the upcoming margin requirements for non-cleared derivatives. The pre-printed form of the English law CSA is deemed to be […]

The CFTC yesterday proposed a large expansion to the classes covered by its clearing determination Regulation 50.4(a). The proposal’s intention is to make the CFTC clearing obligation consistent with a wide range of international jurisdictions. To this end, it adds the currencies of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland to […]

The EC has today published an RTS and accompanying annex adding three more currencies to the EMIR IRS clearing mandate. The RTS specifies obligations for fixed-to-float interest rate swaps and FRA’s in: Swedish Krona, Polish Zloty and Norwegian Krone. It delineates phase-in periods conforming to the existing clearing counterparty classifica tion: Category 1 (clearing members)- […]

Hat tip to Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal for revealing the EU`s intention to unilaterally delay the September deadline for margin requirements. Presented as “procedural” by the European Commission, the delay would be more accurately described as “extremely material” as it will disrupt the internationally-agreed timeline set in the BCBS-IOSCO framework for margin requirements […]

On 27 May 2016, ESMA published a Consultation Paper on draft technical advice under the Benchmarks Regulation, with the objective of submitting the final report to the Commission in October 2016. The consultation is a follow-up to the Discussion Paper which covered both the technical advice and the technical standards. The consultation phase is divided […]

Introduction On 3 May 2016 The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) launched the “ISDA Resolution Stay Jurisdictional Modular Protocol” (the “JMP”).  The JMP is designed to enable market participants to comply with regulations in a number of jurisdictions which, broadly, require banks to obtain consent from their counterparties for the inclusion of statutory stays […]

On 17 May 2016, the Council adopted the EU Benchmark Regulation. The EU Commission first proposed to regulate benchmarks in July 2012, in reaction to LIBOR manipulation. The final text can be found here. The regulation will enter into force on the day following publication in the Official Journal and will apply 18 months after.