On July 26, 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
("CFTC") proposed an amendment ("Proposal") to,
among other things, expand the universe of eligible collateral for
the CFTC's initial margin ("IM") requirements for
uncleared swaps. The Proposal would result in swap dealers that are
not subject to prudential regulation being able to use a broader
range of money market funds ("MMFs") and similar funds as
collateral to meet their uncleared swap IM requirements under CFTC
Regulation 23.156(a)(1)(ix).
Under existing rules, securities issued by MMFs cannot be used
as eligible IM if the MMF engages in transferring assets through
securities lending, securities borrowing, repurchase agreements,
reverse repurchase agreements, and similar arrangements. By
eliminating this restriction, securities issued by MMFs that use
repurchase or similar arrangements would qualify as IM
collateral.