IFLR.com Linked below are three articles that were published in the International Financial Law Review ("IFLR") and pertain principally to three recent CFTC regulations related to swap-execution facilities ("SEFs") and other recent CFTC SEF-related actions. Together, these provide an excellent prÉcis on the CFTC's May 2013 final regulations with respect to SEF core principles and other requirements, "Made Available to Trade" determinations and minimum block trade sizes, as well as some of the major related implementation and cross-border issues. "First Steps on the Path Forward" was co

According to an MFA blog post and Wall Street Journal news item, global rules that were designed to increase transparency in the swaps market worry the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The new rules, which took effect earlier this month in the U.S., push derivative trades through central clearing houses and trade repositories. According to the blog post, the new rules would impact liquidity in Asia unless regulators agreed on a measure to make rules workable for their markets. Howard Lee, Executive Director of Monetary Management for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, urged global lawmakers to

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("Board"), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") proposed new rules to strengthen the liquidity positions of large financial institutions. The proposal would for the first time create a standardized minimum liquidity requirement for large, internationally active and systemically important banking organizations ( i.e., banking organizations with more than $250 billion in total assets or more than $10 billion in on-balance sheet foreign exposure, and to their consolidated

The FDIC announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") between the agency and the People's Bank of China ("PBOC"). The intent of the MOU is to: (i) extend the parties' international working relationship in the areas of deposit insurance and resolution, (ii) develop and expand the interaction between the FDIC and the PBOC, and (iii) demonstrate a shared commitment to cooperation among banking agencies. The MOU also seeks to enhance cooperation on cross-border financial institution recovery and resolution issues, as well as planning for potential recovery and resolution

The SEC, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB"), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"), FDIC, National Credit Union Administration ("NCUA") and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") proposed joint standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of the institutions that they regulate. These standards are required by Section 342 of Dodd-Frank (Office of Minority and Women Inclusion). The proposed standards are intended to promote the transparency and awareness of diversity policies and practices within the institutions. The assessment standards