15 February 2017 The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued on Monday no-action letter 17-11, granting swap dealers time-limited relief from compliance with the obligation to post and collect variation margin from their OTC swaps counterparties. Note however that no-action letter 17-11’s relief expires on 1 September 2017 and is […]

26 August 2016 Only days away from the 1 September regulatory deadline for the new collateral regime, it seems clear that, absent a last-minute no-action letter from the only three regulators poised to meet the original deadline, (namely, the US, Canada and Japan), the $493 trillion OTC derivatives market, the […]

28 April 2016 The EU launches CDS clearing obligation The European Commission published on 19 April 2016 the regulatory technical supplement for credit default swaps (“CDS”), setting out the types of transaction subject to the clearing obligation, as well as the entry into force of the clearing obligation (and frontloading […]

17 March 2016 EU grants US CCP equivalency The European Commission has accepted US central counterparty (CCP) regulations as equivalent to its own, allowing US CCPs to apply to the European Securities and Markets Authority for derivatives clearing status. This follows the announcement of a common approach to CCP equivalence […]

23 March 2015 Nine-month extension to implement mandatory collateral rules and phased compliance for initial margin. This briefing sets out a comprehensive summary of the BCBS-IOSCO margining framework, meant to set to the industry standard worldwide, to be followed by the European Union, the US and most jurisdictions, and whose […]

19 January 2015 It should not be long until the US regulators finalise the collateral requirements regulation applicable to uncleared swaps. With compliance scheduled to start on 1 December 2015 (a tight schedule indeed, considering the final rules are not out yet), below is an indication of what might be […]

16 January 2015 In the wake of the global financial crisis triggered by the Lehman meltdown, a frantic regulatory effort ensued. The idea was to come up with rules applicable to every step and every aspect of derivatives trading, so as to curb systemic risk, promote greater market transparency and […]

05 January 2015 Regardless of the nationality or domicile of their clients, European banks must still comply with European regulation. Such banks are finding it difficult for some of their US clients to agree to make certain representations under EMIR. If those banks also happen to be registered as swap […]

26 November 2014 When it comes to negotiating derivatives and other financial deals it pays to know in advance what is in store for you – and how to deal with, and even benefit from it If you are reading this, chances are that your business enters into derivatives with […]