The following is a brief update for our clients and friends who
are end-users of swaps (for example, interest rate, commodity,
energy or currency/FX swaps).
In addressing the Securities Industry and Financial Markets
Association's 2012 Annual Meeting Tuesday, Gary Gensler,
Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC),
clarified that any determination by the CFTC regarding the
mandatory clearing of specified types of swap transactions
will apply only to swaps executed on and after a swap
counterparty's applicable compliance date.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
amended the Commodity Exchange Act to provide that it will be
unlawful for any person to engage in a swap unless the swap is
submitted for clearing to a derivatives clearing organization if
the CFTC has determined that the swap must be cleared (the clearing
requirement). This past July, the CFTC adopted a schedule for
complying with the clearing requirement
