Effective date for swap margin requirements joint final rule

The Board of the FDIC has approved a final rule to establish margin requirements for swaps that are not cleared through a clearinghouse. This action is a joint final rule with the OCC, the FRB, the Farm Credit Administration, and the FHFA, and will apply to entities supervised by these agencies that register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) or SEC as a dealer or major participant in swaps. The Dodd-Frank Act required the agencies to impose margin requirements to help ensure the safety and soundness of swap dealers in light of the risk to the financial system associated with non-cleared swaps activity. The final rule, which will be effective April 1, 2016, takes into account the risk posed by a swap dealer's counterparties in establishing the minimum amount of initial and variation margin that the covered swap entity must exchange with such counterparties. A statement on the rule was also issued by Chairman Gruenberg.