The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today voted to set the swap dealer de minimis threshold at $8 billion on a permanent basis.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo today released a white paper highlighting plans for improving the regulation of the swaps and derivatives markets.

ABA today commented on a joint proposed rulemaking issued by the OCC, Federal Reserve and FDIC, Farm Credit Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Administration that would align the agencies’ margin rules with restrictions on qualified financial contracts that took effect last year.

To facilitate compliance with their rules regarding qualified financial contracts of systemically important banks, the federal banking agencies today proposed a rule clarifying that legacy swaps -- those entered into before the margin rules’ compliance dates -- do not become subject to margin requirements provided they are amended solely to comply with QFC rules.

The prevailing “notional amounts” method of estimating the size of the global swaps market is distorting the market and public policy, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo said today.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced today that it will keep the swap dealer de minimis threshold at $8 billion through Dec. 31, 2019, following a commitment by CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo earlier this month to do so.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will keep the swap dealer de minimis threshold at $8 billion at least through the end of 2019, Chairman Chris Giancarlo told the House Agriculture Committee today.

As the Commodity Futures Trading Commission continues its ongoing initiative to simplify and modernize its rules, ABA last week wrote to the CFTC to highlight how a relatively inflexible definition of “eligible contract participant” under CFTC regulations has constrained banks from helping borrows mitigate risk by participating in swaps transactions.

As part of its ongoing response to President Trump’s executive order outlining core principles for financial regulation, the Treasury Department issued an extensive report today outlining recommended regulatory changes to maintain the vibrancy of U.S. capital markets.

ABA staff recently met with officials at the Treasury Department, which is in the process of issuing recommendations related to capital markets regulatory reform in response to President Trump’s executive order on core principles for financial regulation.