CFTC Commissioner Giancarlo Criticizes U.S. Regulators' Refusal To Delay Swaps Margin Rules

CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo reprimanded U.S. prudential regulators and the CFTC for ordering swap dealers to meet a contested September 1 deadline for the implementation of certain margin requirements that are applicable to uncleared swaps.

In March 2015, IOSCO and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published a final policy framework establishing (i) standards for margin requirements for uncleared swaps, and (ii) a phased-in implementation period for the requirements with an initial implementation date of September 1, 2016. Last week, regulators in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore announced that their implementation of the requirements would be delayed, which followed the pattern of a similar announcement by the European Commission several months before. Notwithstanding these announced delays, the CFTC and U.S. prudential regulators decided to proceed with the original implementation date.