What did we learn? 1 March 2017 – deadline day for ‘big bang’ – has come and gone.  We all breathed a sigh of relief.  Or did we?  Regulators recognised the fact that firms would not be compliant and, in general, counselled the industry to ‘do your best to get it done by 1 September’.  […]

Introduction With VM CSA repapering in full swing over at DRS, this article took a while longer to write than first anticipated.  It has now been two weeks since ISDA published another two supplemental rules exhibits further amending the ISDA 2016 Variation Margin Protocol (the “Protocol”) on 27 January 2017: Supplemental Rules Exhibit for Non-Netting […]

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) yesterday announced its 6 month “transitional period” (read- delay) to the application of its non-cleared margin rules. The HKMA has taken the same approach as Singapore’s MAS, expecting covered entities to “to begin exchanging margin as soon as practicable”. Unlike both Singapore and Australia, the HKMA does not have […]

The Final Frontier On 17 November 2016, ISDA published a “Supplemental Rules Exhibit” (the “EMIR Supplement”) to the ISDA 2016 Variation Margin Protocol (the “Protocol”).  The purpose of the EMIR Supplement is to enable adherents to the Protocol to integrate amendments for margin rules for OTC derivatives in order to achieve compliance with EMIR[1] into […]

The FT website is reporting unnamed sources which confirm that Council approval of the EU non-cleared margin rules will be slightly delayed until 21 November. The Council is relatively free from formal procedures for approval and has been the subject of intense, but quiet, lobbying by investment banks keen to avoid the unfortunate coincidence of […]

As expected the European Commission has today adopted the EMIR non-cleared margin RTS. The adoption is in the form of a Delegated Regulation which will be subject to an objection period by the Parliament and the Council. While both bodies are entirely capable of lodging late-stage objections, as evidenced by the recent PRIIPS paralysis, such […]

Introduction On 14 April 2016 ISDA published the New York law “2016 Credit Support Annex for Variation Margin (VM)” (the “NY-law VM CSA”).  Subsequently, on 29 April 2016 it published the English law “2016 VM Credit Support Annex for Variation Margin (VM)” (the “English-law VM CSA” and together with the NY-law VM CSA, the “VM […]

The BCBS\IOSCO twins confirmed yesterday that the imposition of margin requirements for uncleared swaps will be delayed by nine months. The phase-in schedule for the mandatory posting of initial and variation margin will now begin in September 2016, while still adhering to its four-year schedule, beginning with “the largest, most active and most systemically important […]

In a recent webcast, ISDA highlighted the impact on portfolios of derivative documentation which will result from its various workstreams designed to facilitate compliance with the Working Group on Margining Requirements’ (WGMR) forthcoming rules on margin for non-centrally cleared derivatives.  It is required listening for anyone with responsibility for derivative documentation, but a summary is […]