This is an update to a previous post. This update highlights the formal endorsement of Term SOFR by the ARRC, expands the discussion to include Ameribor and dives more deeply into the issues associated with Term SOFR swaps...more
Wednesday, the ARRC announced (HERE) the expectation to endorse CME’s Term SOFR in late July or early August. One of the bigger pieces to this announcement is the announcement that U.S. regulators will also permit Term SOFR...more
With 2020 now behind us, we look forward to the year ahead while noting just one of the many lessons of the past year: the difficulty of prediction. We simplify the task by limiting our focus to five topics in derivatives...more
On August 31, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announced relief for swap dealers (SD) and other market participants related to the industry-wide transition from swaps that reference the...more
Thomas Cook Takeaways - For credit default swap (CDS) protection buyers with protection on Thomas Cook Group Plc, a U.K. scheme of arrangement paving the way for a £1.6 billion debt-to-equity exchange imposed on all debt...more
On July 19, 2018, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) published a white paper entitled "Initial Margin for Non-Centrally Cleared...more
With the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) announcing in July 2017, essentially, its intent to no longer persuade or compel panel banks to make LIBOR submissions by the end of 2021, the future of LIBOR, and its role in...more
Because of the implementation of new regulatory requirements relating to both variation and initial margin for swaps, swap documentation for many market participants is about to become much more complicated....more
On March 1, 2017, new rules adopted by U.S. Prudential Regulators and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will require registered swap dealers to post and collect daily variation margin for over-the-counter,...more
The scheduled implementation date applicable for most financial end users for the mandatory posting of variation margin to their swap dealer counterparties under U.S. margin rules is March 1, 2017. In most cases, the U.S....more
On August 16, 2016, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) published the ISDA 2016 Variation Margin Protocol (VM Protocol). The VM Protocol will help market participants implement the new variation...more
On May 26, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) unanimously approved a proposed supplement (“Supplemental Proposal”) to its December 2013 proposal to establish position limits on futures and economically...more
Novo Banco and CDS – A Post-Mortem - The 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions updated the previous set of credit derivatives definitions to, among other things, include a credit event for “Governmental Intervention.”...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) adopted a final rule effective March 21, 2016, that eliminates the reporting and recordkeeping requirements under the CFTC’s existing trade option exemption for...more
On March 16, 2016, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) approved a final rule that eliminates the reporting and recordkeeping requirements in current CFTC regulations for trade option counterparties that are...more
On March 16, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a final rule that eliminated certain requirements “for trade option counterparties that are neither swap dealers nor major swap participants[.]”...more
On March 16, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) unanimously approved amendments to the rules applicable to certain physically-settled options referred to as “trade options.” This final rule substantially...more
The CFTC approved a final rule today that removes trade option* reporting and recordkeeping requirements applicable to non-swap dealer/major swap participant counterparties (“Non-SD/MSPs” or “end users” for purposes of this...more
Under the Margin Rules, swap dealers and major swap participants that do not have a prudential regulator (Covered Swap Entities, or CSEs) would be required to collect and post initial margin for uncleared swaps with financial...more
To clarify our intended audience, in the Financial Entity Update we will address issues germane to entities that trade swaps but are neither dealers nor commercial end users. This includes a broad and diverse group of...more
NYDFS Finalizes BitLicense Regulations - On June 3, 2015, the New York Department of Financial Services released its final BitLicense regulations, which it described as "the first comprehensive framework for regulating...more
EBA Final Report on Guidelines on Triggers for Use of Early Intervention Measures Under BRRD - On May 8, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published its final report (EBA/GL/2015/03) on guidelines on triggers for the...more
On April 30, 2015, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved a notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposed Rules) to reduce reporting and recordkeeping obligations for end-users that use commodity trade...more
The CFTC has proposed several important changes that would alleviate the reporting and recordkeeping obligations of end users with respect to trade options (or provide by rule certain relief currently only available under...more
Trade options are physically settled over-the-counter options on most deliverable commodities (e.g., agricultural, energy, or metals) where the buyer is a producer, processor, commercial user or merchant of the commodity...more