17 CFR Part 23, Subpart E - Capital and Margin Requirements for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is proposing to amend selected provisions of its regulations in order to simplify certain requirements for swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”) concerning notification of counterparties of their right to segregate initial margin for uncleared swaps, and to modify requirements for the handling of segregated initial margin (the “Proposal”).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is seeking comment on proposed amendments to the margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers (“SD”) and major swap participants (“MSP”) for which there is no prudential regulator (“CFTC Margin Rule”). The Commission is proposing these amendments in light of the rules recently adopted by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) (collectively, the “QFC Rules”) that impose restrictions on certain uncleared swaps and uncleared security-based swaps and other financial contracts. Specifically, the Commission proposes to amend the definition of “eligible master netting agreement” in the CFTC Margin Rule to ensure that master netting agreements of firms subject to the CFTC Margin Rule are not excluded from the definition of “eligible master netting agreement” based solely on such agreements' compliance with the QFC Rules. The Commission also proposes that any legacy uncleared swap ( i.e., an uncleared swap entered into before the applicable compliance date of the CFTC Margin Rule) that is not now subject to the margin requirements of the CFTC Margin Rule would not become so subject if it is amended solely to comply with the QFC Rules. These proposed amendments are consistent with proposed amendments that the Board, FDIC, OCC, the Farm Credit Administration (“FCA”), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA” and, together with the Board, FDIC, OCC, and FCA, the “Prudential Regulators”), jointly published in the Federal Register on February 21, 2018.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission”) is amending its primary definitions regulation to make it more user-friendly both to industry and the public. Specifically, the Commission is amending the primary definitions regulation to replace the complex and confusing lettering system with a simple alphabetical list; and replacing all existing cross references to any definition within the primary definitions regulation with a general reference to the revised alphabetical list, rather than to a specific lettered paragraph.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) is correcting a final rule published in the Federal Register on January 6, 2016. The rule, concerning margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers and major swap participants, took effect on April 1, 2016. This correction rectifies errors in cross-references in a particular section of the final rule.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission”) is amending the recordkeeping obligations set forth in Commission regulations along with corresponding technical changes to certain provisions regarding retention of oral communications and record retention requirements applicable to swap dealers and major swap participants, respectively. The amendments modernize and make technology neutral the form and manner in which regulatory records must be kept, as well as rationalize the rule text for ease of understanding for those persons required to keep records pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA” or “Act”) and regulations promulgated by the Commission thereunder. The amendments do not alter any existing requirements regarding the types of regulatory records to be inspected, produced, and maintained set forth in other Commission regulations.

On December 16, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposal) to adopt new regulations and to amend existing regulations to implement sections 4s(e) and (f) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), as added by section 731 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Section 4s(e) requires the Commission to adopt capital requirements for swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs) that are not subject to capital rules of a prudential regulator. Section 4s(f) requires the Commission to adopt financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements for SDs and MSPs. The Commission also proposed to amend existing capital rules for futures commission merchants (FCMs), providing specific capital deductions for market risk and credit risk for swaps and security-based swaps entered into by an FCM. The Commission further proposed several technical amendments to the regulations. As is explained below, the Commission is extending for 60 days the comment period for the Proposal.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission”) is proposing to amend the recordkeeping obligations set forth in certain provisions of the Commission's regulations. The proposed amendments would permit recordkeepers to leverage advances in information technology as a means to reduce costs associated with the retention and production of paper and electronic records and to decrease the risks of cybersecurity threats, while maintaining necessary safeguards to ensure the integrity, availability, and accessibility of records required to be kept pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”) or Commission regulations. In addition to providing recordkeepers with greater flexibility regarding the retention and production of regulatory records, the proposed amendments would remove the requirements for electronic records to be kept in their native file format and for recordkeepers to enter into an arrangement with a third-party technical consultant with respect to electronically stored information.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is proposing to adopt new regulations and to amend existing regulations to implement sections 4s(e) and (f) of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”), as added by section 731 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”). Section 4s(e) requires the Commission to adopt capital requirements for swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”) that are not subject to capital rules of a prudential regulator. Section 4s(f) requires the Commission to adopt financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements for SDs and MSPs. The Commission also is proposing to amend existing capital rules for futures commission merchants (“FCMs”), providing specific capital deductions for market risk and credit risk for swaps and security-based swaps entered into by an FCM. The Commission is further proposing several technical amendments to the regulations.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is publishing for public comment proposed rules and interpretations (“Proposed Rule”) addressing the cross-border application of certain swap provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). Specifically, the proposed rule defines key terms for purposes of applying the CEA's swap provisions to cross-border transactions and addresses the cross-border application of the registration thresholds and external business conduct standards for swap dealers and major swap participants, including the extent to which they would apply to swap transactions that are arranged, negotiated, or executed using personnel located in the United States.

This release is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (“Commission” or “CFTC”) final response to the order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, et al. v. United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, (“ SIFMA v. CFTC ”), remanding eight swaps-related rulemakings to the Commission to resolve what the court held to be inadequacies in the Commission's consideration of costs and benefits, or its explanation of its consideration of costs and benefits, in those rulemakings. In this release the Commission addresses cost-benefit issues raised and suggestions for rule changes made in comments submitted in response to the Commission's Initial Response to the remand order.

On January 6, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) published final regulations to implement section 4s(e) of the Commodity Exchange Act, which requires the Commission to adopt initial and variation margin requirements for uncleared swaps of swap dealers and major swap participants that do not have a Prudential Regulator (collectively, “Covered Swap Entities” or “CSEs”). In this release, the Commission is adopting a rule to address the cross-border application of the Commission's margin requirements for CSEs' uncleared swaps.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is amending its regulations in connection with the terms for which counterparties must exchange and resolve discrepancies when engaging in portfolio reconciliation.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is adopting regulations to implement a particular provision of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”), as added by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”). This provision requires the Commission to adopt initial and variation margin requirements for certain swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”). The final rules would establish initial and variation margin requirements for SDs and MSPs but would not require SDs and MSPs to collect margin from non-financial end users. The Commission is also adopting and inviting comment on an interim final rule that will exempt certain uncleared swaps with certain counterparties from these margin requirements. This interim final rule implements Title III of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015 (“TRIPRA”), which exempts from the margin rules for uncleared swaps certain swaps for which a counterparty qualifies for an exemption or exception from clearing under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) proposes to amend a provision of the Commission's regulations in connection with the material terms for which counterparties must resolve discrepancies when engaging in portfolio reconciliation.

On October 3, 2014, the Commission published proposed regulations to implement section 4s(e) of the Commodity Exchange Act, as added by section 731 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”). This provision requires the Commission to adopt initial and variation margin requirements for swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”) that do not have a Prudential Regulator (collectively, “CSEs” or “Covered Swap Entities”). In the October 3, 2014 proposing release, the Commission also issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”) requesting public comment on the cross-border application of such margin requirements. In this release, the Commission is proposing a rule for the application of the Commission's margin requirements to cross-border transactions.

This release is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (“Commission” or “CFTC”) initial response to the order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, et al. v. United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission remanding eight swaps-related rulemakings to the Commission to address what the court held to be inadequacies in the Commission's consideration of costs and benefits, or its explanation of its consideration of costs and benefits, in those rulemakings. In this release, the Commission: supplements the preambles to the remanded rulemakings by clarifying that the costs and benefits identified therein applied both to domestic swaps activities and activities outside the United States that are subject to the Commission's swaps rules by operation of section 2(i) of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”); and solicits comments on whether there are cross-border costs or benefits associated with the remanded rules that differ from those associated with activities within the United States. Following its review of the comments, the Commission will publish a further response to the District Court remand order which would include any supplementation of or changes to its consideration of the costs and benefits of the relevant rules as set forth in the rule preambles. The Commission will also consider whether to amend any of these rules in light of information developed in this process.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is proposing regulations to implement section 4s(e) of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”), as added by section 731 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”). This provision requires the Commission to adopt initial and variation margin requirements for certain swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”). The proposed rules would establish initial and variation margin requirements for SDs and MSPs but would not require SDs and MSPs to collect margin from non-financial end users. In this release, the Commission is also issuing an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requesting public comment on the cross-border application of such margin requirements. The Commission is not proposing rules on this topic at this time. It is seeking public comment on several potential alternative approaches.

This document contains corrections to final regulations, which were published in the Federal Register of Tuesday, April 3, 2012. The regulations are related to the risk management programs of swap dealers and major swap participants.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission”) is issuing final rules implementing new statutory provisions enacted by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). Specifically, the final rule contained herein imposes requirements on swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”) with respect to the treatment of collateral posted by their counterparties to margin, guarantee, or secure uncleared swaps. Additionally, the final rule includes revisions to ensure that, for purposes of subchapter IV of chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code, securities held in a portfolio margining account that is a futures account or a Cleared Swaps Customer Account constitute “customer property”; and owners of such account constitute “customers.”

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is adopting an amendment to its regulations to clarify certain responsibilities of a swap dealer or major swap participant regarding its employees who solicit, accept or effect swaps in a clerical or ministerial capacity.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is correcting a final rule published in the Federal Register of September 11, 2012 (77 FR 55904). That rule, 17 CFR 23.505, took effect on November 13, 2012. Subsequently, the CFTC published final rules in the Federal Register of December 13, 2012 (77 FR 74284), that re-codified the Commission regulation at 17 CFR 39.6 as a new Commission regulation at 17 CFR 50.50. This correction amends cross-references in 17 CFR 23.505 to conform them with the final rules published on December 13, 2012.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission”) is changing the compliance dates for certain rules in the Commission's regulations governing business conduct standards for swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”), and certain rules requiring SDs and MSPs to engage in portfolio reconciliation and to have certain documentation with their swap counterparties. The Commission is extending the compliance date for certain rules by four months, and up to six months for others. The extended compliance dates are intended to provide SDs and MSPs with additional time to achieve compliance with certain regulations.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) is adopting regulations to implement certain provisions of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Section 731 of the Dodd-Frank Act added a new section 4s(i) to the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), which requires the Commission to prescribe standards for swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs) related to the timely and accurate confirmation, processing, netting, documentation, and valuation of swaps. These regulations set forth requirements for swap confirmation, portfolio reconciliation, portfolio compression, and swap trading relationship documentation for SDs and MSPs.

On April 28, 2011, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish initial and variation margin requirements on uncleared swaps for swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”). 1 In October 2011, the Basel Commission on Banking Supervision (“BCBS”) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) established a Working Group on Margin Requirements (“WGMR”) to develop harmonized international standards for uncleared swaps. BCBS and IOSCO recently published a consultative paper prepared by the WGMR that outlines possible margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives (“consultative paper”). 2 The Commission is extending the comment period for its proposed margin rules for uncleared swaps for swap dealers and major swap participants in order to give interested parties the opportunity to comment on the consultative paper and the CFTC's proposed rules concurrently. 1 See 76 FR 23732. 2 The WGMR is comprised of representatives from over 25 domestic and international regulatory authorities, including the CFTC.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) is proposing regulations that would make clear that each swap dealer (SD), major swap participant (MSP), and other Commission registrant with whom an associated person (AP) is associated is required to supervise the AP and is jointly and severally responsible for the activities of the AP with respect to customers common to it and any other SD, MSP or other Commission registrant (Proposal).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is adopting rules to implement new statutory provisions enacted by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. These rules address: The documentation between a customer and a futures commission merchant that clears on behalf of the customer; the timing of acceptance or rejection of trades for clearing by derivatives clearing organizations and clearing members; and the risk management procedures of futures commission merchants, swap dealers, and major swap participants that are clearing members. The rules are designed to increase customer access to clearing, to facilitate the timely processing of trades, and to strengthen risk management at the clearing member level.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) is adopting regulations to implement certain provisions of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). These regulations set forth reporting and recordkeeping requirements and daily trading records requirements for swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs). These regulations also set forth certain duties imposed upon SDs and MSPs registered with the Commission with regard to: Risk management procedures; monitoring of trading to prevent violations of applicable position limits; diligent supervision; business continuity and disaster recovery; disclosure and the ability of regulators to obtain general information; and antitrust considerations. In addition, these regulations establish conflicts-of-interest requirements for SDs, MSPs, futures commission merchants (FCMs), and introducing brokers (IBs) with regard to firewalls between research and trading and between clearing and trading. Finally, these regulations also require each FCM, SD, and MSP to designate a chief compliance officer, prescribe qualifications and duties of the chief compliance officer, and require that the chief compliance officer prepare, certify, and furnish to the Commission an annual report containing an assessment of the registrant's compliance activities.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“Commission” or “CFTC”) is adopting final rules to implement Section 4s(h) of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) pursuant to Section 731 of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”). These rules prescribe external business conduct standards for swap dealers and major swap participants.

This document corrects language in the final rules published in the Federal Register of Thursday, January 19, 2012, regarding the Registration of Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants. The Commission adopted regulations under the Commodity Exchange Act (Act or CEA) that establish the process for the registration of swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs, and collectively with SDs, Swaps Entities) in accordance with section 4s of the CEA, which was added recently to the CEA by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.