CFTC Commissioners voted unanimously yesterday to propose a modified rule that would apply margin requirements for uncleared swaps in the context of cross-border transactions. The new proposal is in response to the recent practice of US banks “de-guaranteeing” their overseas affiliates, an attempt to place these entities beyond the CFTC’s legislative reach. The proposal extends […]

The CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight yesterday announced their issuance of No-Action Letter 15-38. The letter extends relief for SDs and MSPs from compliance with reporting obligations under Rule 45.4(b)(2(ii). The rule requires SD/MSPs to provide an SDR with continuing valuation data for cleared swaps. ISDA repeated its case that establishing connections to SDRs is […]

The House of Congress has passed legislation to reauthorise the CFTC for another five years; the Commodity End-User Relief Act (H.R. 2289) passed with a healthy majority 246-171. As with all things Dodd-Frank, the bill is already complex, controversial and may prove to be consequential. The bill’s policy statement is  blunt and uncompromising  in its […]

From midnight tonight the 24 current SEFs will have precisely 195 days to comply with the CFTC’s Footnote 195 guidance . From midnight EST on 30 September 2015, SEFs will have to hold complete copies of all documentation affecting their clients’ uncleared trades, “glean” information and report it to an SDR. The genesis of Footnote […]

In his keynote address before the Institute of International Bankers, CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad yesterday revisited some familiar themes. Under his leadership, the “new” CFTC cannot be accused of a lack of consistency. It is nevertheless a useful recap of the CFTC’s priorities as they begin the task of “fine-tuning” the discordant Dodd-Frank orchestra. A […]

The CFTC is to provide an encore to one of its longer-running sagas, announcing yesterday that it will reopen the comments period on its position limits rulemaking. The new period begins today and remains open for 45 days.  The move is in anticipation of questions and comments that may arise from the Commission’s Agricultural Advisory […]

J. Christopher Giancarlo has made his views of the Agency’s previous work very clear- he hates it in detail, spitting his dummy so far out that it may well be irretrievable. The Republican CFTC Commissioner, speaking from his ex-practitioner’s podium, has issued a nine page broadside against the regulator’s implementation of Dodd-Frank’s essentially benign intentions. […]

Following Chairman Timothy Massad’s 5 November speech, alluding to an extension of no-action relief with respect to swap packages, the CFTC yesterday issued Letter No. 14-137. The letter revisits the expiration of relief for the most basic package categories and institutes a new calendar of phased-in relief for the remaining package types.  The relief serves […]

The CFTC’s DSIO has issued clarification as to notification and reporting requirements with respect to margin in uncleared swaps. Regulation 23.701 imposes an annual obligation to notify counterparties of their right to elect segregation of initial margin. Regulation 23.704 stipulates quarterly reports of any compliance breaches with respect to omnibus (non-segregated) accounts. The guidance in […]