The Committee on Financial Services is holding a joint hearing on the impact of the proposed rules to implement Basel III Capital Standards on Thursday, November 29, 2012. Click here for further information (links externally to House Financial Services Committee website).

ISDA submitted the attached no-action request to the CFTC on behalf of its members and other similarly situated persons with obligations under CFTC Swap Documentation Rules 23.502 (Portfolio Recognition) and 23.504 (Swap trading relationship documentation) asking that the compliance dates be pushed back to July 1, 2013. If approved, the relief would, among other things, allow market participants to delay entry into and compliance with "Protocol 2," the industry standard form being developed by ISDA (for which project Cadwalader serves as ISDA's counsel).

ISDA published an analysis of initial margin (IM) requirements for non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives under current regulatory proposals. The analysis highlights three significant industry concerns. First, the level of IM required under the BCBS-IOSCO proposal is very significant, ranging from $1.7 trillion to $10.2 trillion depending on whether internal models or standardized schedules are used. Second, the increased amount of IM that would be required in stressed conditions will result in greatly increased demand for new funds at the worst possible time for market participants. This pro

The CFTC issued an order filing and settling charges that a former employee of of an FCM arranged the unlawful execution of noncompetitive (off-exchange) futures trades over an 18-month period, which constituted "fictitious sales" and resulted in the reporting of non-bona fide prices (because they were neither executed on an exchange nor associated with a related cash or derivatives position). The order requires the former employee to pay a monetary penalty and suspends his registration as an Associated Person for a four-month period and also prohibits Hutchen from violating Section 4c(a) of

The CFTC issued its first rule specifying the types of swaps required to be cleared. The swaps that will be subject to mandatory clearing are two classes of untranched index credit default swaps (CDS) and four classes of interest rate swaps relating to four currencies (U.S. dollars, British pounds, euros and Japanese yen). The clearing requirement determination applies to swaps currently cleared by four DCOs: CME, ICE Clear Credit, ICE Clear Europe, and LCH.Clearnet Ltd. The attached press release provides a fuller description of the swaps that will be subject to mandatory clearing. According