Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants

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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Agency Contact: John C. Lawton, Deputy Director, jlawton@cftc.gov, Division of Clearing and Risk, or Jason A. Shafer, Attorney Advisor, Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, jshafer@cftc.gov, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette