Margin and Capital Requirements for Covered Swap Entities

As Enacted

Cited in

Citation	84 FR 9940
Record Number	2019-05012
Published date	19 March 2019
Section	Rules and Regulations
Court	Board Of Governors Of The Federal Reserve System,Farm Credit Administration,Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,Federal Housing Finance Agency,The Comptroller Of The Currency Office

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 53 / Tuesday, March 19, 2019 / Rules and Regulations

§ 929.43 Contributions.

The Committee may accept voluntary

contributions to pay expenses incurred

pursuant to § 929.45, Research and

development. Such contributions may

only be accepted if they are sourced

from domestic contributors and are free

from any encumbrances or restrictions

on their use by the donor. The

Cranberry Marketing Committee shall

retain complete control of their use.

[FR Doc. 2019–05079 Filed 3–18–19; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency

12 CFR Part 45

[Docket No. OCC–2019–0002]

RIN 1557–0061

BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Part 237

[Docket No. R–1654]

RIN 7100–AF42

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

12 CFR Part 349

RIN 3064–AF00

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

12 CFR Part 624

RIN 3052–AD34

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE

AGENCY

12 CFR Part 1221

RIN 2590–AB02

Margin and Capital Requirements for

Covered Swap Entities

AGENCY

: Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency, Treasury (OCC); Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System (Board); Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Farm

Credit Administration (FCA); and the

Federal Housing Finance Agency

(FHFA).

ACTION

: Interim final rule and request

for comment.

SUMMARY

: The OCC, Board, FDIC, FCA,

and FHFA (each an Agency and,

collectively, the Agencies) are adopting

and invite comment on an interim final

rule amending the Agencies’ regulations

that require swap dealers and security-

based swap dealers under the Agencies’

respective jurisdictions to exchange

margin with their counterparties for

swaps that are not centrally cleared

(Swap Margin Rule). The Swap Margin

Rule takes effect under a phased

compliance schedule stretching from

2016 through 2020, and the dealers

covered by the rule continue to hold

swaps in their portfolios that were

entered into before the effective dates of

the rule. Those swaps are grandfathered

from the Swap Margin Rule’s

requirements until they expire

according to their terms. There are

currently financial services firms

located within the United Kingdom

(U.K.) that conduct swap dealing

activities subject to the Swap Margin

Rule. The U.K. has provided formal

notice of its intention to withdraw from

the European Union (E.U.) on March 29,

2019. If this transpires without a

negotiated agreement between the U.K.

and E.U., these entities located in the

U.K. may not be authorized to provide

full-scope financial services to swap

counterparties located in the E.U. The

Agencies’ policy objective in developing

the interim final rule is to address one

aspect of the scenario likely to ensue,

whereby entities located in the U.K.

might transfer their existing swap

portfolios that face counterparties

located in the E.U. over to an affiliate or

other related establishment located

within the E.U. or the United States

(U.S.). The Agencies seek to address

industry concerns about the status of

grandfathered swaps in this scenario, so

the industry can focus on making

preparations for swap transfers. These

transfers, if carried out in accordance

with the conditions of the interim final

rule, will not trigger the application of

the Swap Margin Rule to grandfathered

swaps that were entered into before the

compliance dates of the Swap Margin

Rule.

DATES

: The interim final rule is effective

March 19, 2019. Comments should be

received on or before April 18, 2019.

ADDRESSES

: Interested parties are

encouraged to submit written comments

jointly to all of the Agencies.

Commenters are encouraged to use the

title ‘‘Margin and Capital Requirements

for Covered Swap Entities’’ to facilitate

the organization and distribution of

comments among the Agencies.

OCC: You may submit comments to

the OCC by any of the methods set forth

below. Commenters are encouraged to

submit comments through the Federal

eRulemaking Portal or email, if possible.

Please use the title ‘‘Margin and Capital

Requirements for Covered Swap

Entities’’ to facilitate the organization

and distribution of the comments. You

may submit comments by any of the

following methods:

•Federal eRulemaking Portal—

‘‘Regulations.gov’’: Go to

www.regulations.gov. Enter ‘‘Docket ID

OCC–2019–0002’’ in the Search Box and

click ‘‘Search.’’ Click on ‘‘Comment

Now’’ to submit public comments. Click

on the ‘‘Help’’ tab on the

Regulations.gov home page to get

information on using Regulations.gov,

including instructions for submitting

public comments.

•Email: regs.comments@

occ.treas.gov.

•Mail: Legislative and Regulatory

Activities Division, Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th

Street SW, Suite 3E–218, Washington,

DC 20219.

•Hand Delivery/Courier: 400 7th

Street SW, Suite 3E–218, Washington,

DC 20219.

•Fax: (571) 465–4326.

Instructions: You must include

‘‘OCC’’ as the agency name and ‘‘Docket

ID OCC–2019–0002’’ in your comment.

In general, the OCC will enter all

comments received into the docket and

publish the comments on the

Regulations.gov website without

change, including any business or

personal information that you provide

such as name and address information,

email addresses, or phone numbers.

Comments received, including

attachments and other supporting

materials, are part of the public record

and subject to public disclosure. Do not

include any information in your

comment or supporting materials that

you consider confidential or

inappropriate for public disclosure.

You may review comments and other

related materials that pertain to this

rulemaking action by any of the

following methods:

•Viewing Comments Electronically:

Go to www.regulations.gov. Enter

‘‘Docket ID OCC–2019–0002’’ in the

Search box and click ‘‘Search.’’ Click on

‘‘Open Docket Folder’’ on the right side

of the screen. Comments and supporting

materials can be viewed and filtered by

clicking on ‘‘View all documents and

comments in this docket’’ and then

using the filtering tools on the left side

of the screen. Click on the ‘‘Help’’ tab

on the Regulations.gov home page to get

information on using Regulations.gov.

The docket may be viewed after the

close of the comment period in the same

manner as during the comment period.

•Viewing Comments Personally: You

may personally inspect comments at the

OCC, 400 7th Street SW, Washington,

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DC 20219. For security reasons, the OCC

requires that visitors make an

appointment to inspect comments. You

may do so by calling (202) 649–6700 or,

for persons who are deaf or hearing

impaired, TTY, (202) 649–5597. Upon

arrival, visitors will be required to

present valid government-issued photo

identification and submit to security

screening in order to inspect comments.

Board: You may submit comments,

identified by [Docket No. R–1654 and

RIN No. 7100–AF42, by any of the

following methods:

•Agency website: http://

www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the

instructions for submitting comments at

http://www.federalreserve.gov/

generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm.

•Email: regs.comments@

federalreserve.gov. Include the docket

number and RIN number in the subject

line of the message.

•Fax: (202) 452–3819 or (202) 452–

3102.

•Mail: Address to Ann E. Misback,

Secretary, Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and

Constitution Avenue NW, Washington,

DC 20551.

All public comments are available

from the Board’s website at http://

www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/

foia/ProposedRegs.cfm as submitted,

unless modified for technical reasons or

to remove personally identifiable

information at the commenter’s request.

Accordingly, comments will not be

edited to remove any identifying or

contact information. Public comments

may also be viewed electronically or in

paper in Room 146, 1709 New York

Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006

between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

FDIC: You may submit comments,

identified by RIN 3064–AF00, by any of

the following methods:

•Agency website: https://

www.FDIC.gov/regulations/laws/federal.

•Mail: Robert E. Feldman, Executive

Secretary, Attention: Comments/Legal

ESS, Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation, 550 17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20429.

•Hand Delivered/Courier: The guard

station at the rear of the 550 17th Street

Building (located on F Street) on

business days between 7:00 a.m. and

5:00 p.m.

•Email: Comments@FDIC.gov.

Comments submitted must include

‘‘FDIC’’ and ‘‘RIN 3064–AF00—Brexit

Amendment: Margin and Capital

Requirements for Covered Swap

Entities.’’ Comments received will be

posted without change to https://

www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal,

including any personal information

provided.

FHFA: You may submit your written

comments on the interim final

rulemaking, identified by regulatory

information number: RIN 2590–AB02,

by any of the following methods:

•Agency website: www.fhfa.gov/

open-for-comment-or-input.

•Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the

instructions for submitting comments. If

you submit your comment to the

Federal eRulemaking Portal, please also

send it by email to FHFA at

RegComments@fhfa.gov to ensure

timely receipt by the Agency. Please

include ‘‘RIN 2590–AB02’’ in the

subject line of the message.

•Hand Delivery/Courier: The hand

delivery address is: Alfred M. Pollard,

General Counsel, Attention: Comments/

RIN 2590–AB02, Federal Housing

Finance Agency, Constitution Center

(OGC Eighth Floor), 400 7th St. SW,

Washington, DC 20219. Deliver the

package to the Seventh Street entrance

Guard Desk, First Floor, on business

days between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

•U.S. Mail, United Parcel Service,

Federal Express, or Other Mail Service:

The mailing address for comments is:

Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel,

Attention: Comments/RIN 2590–AB02,

Federal Housing Finance Agency,

Constitution Center (OGC Eighth Floor),

400 7th St. SW, Washington, DC 20219.

All comments received by the

deadline will be posted for public

inspection without change, including

any personal information you provide,

such as your name, address, email

address and telephone number on the

FHFA website at http://www.fhfa.gov.

Copies of all comments timely received

will be available for public inspection

and copying at the address above on

government-business days between the

hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. To make an

appointment to inspect comments

please call the Office of General Counsel

at (202) 649–3804.

FCA: We offer a variety of methods for

you to submit your comments. For

accuracy and efficiency reasons,

commenters are encouraged to submit

comments by email or through the

FCA’s website. As facsimiles (fax) are

difficult for us to process and achieve

compliance with section 508 of the

Rehabilitation Act, we are no longer

accepting comments submitted by fax.

Regardless of the method you use,

please do not submit your comments

multiple times via different methods.

You may submit comments by any of

the following methods:

•Email: Send us an email at reg-

comm@fca.gov.

•FCA website: http://www.fca.gov.

Click inside the ‘‘I want to . . .’’ field

near the top of the page; select

‘‘comment on a pending regulation’’

from the dropdown menu; and click

‘‘Go.’’ This takes you to an electronic

public comment form.

•Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the

instructions for submitting comments.

•Mail: Barry F. Mardock, Deputy

Director, Office of Regulatory Policy,

Farm Credit Administration, 1501 Farm

Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22102–5090.

You may review copies of all

comments we receive at our office in

McLean, Virginia or on our website at

http://www.fca.gov. Once you are on the

website, click inside the ‘‘I want to

. . .’’ field near the top of the page;

select ‘‘find comments on a pending

regulation’’ from the dropdown menu;

and click ‘‘Go.’’ This will take you to the

Comment Letters page where you can

select the regulation for which you

would like to read the public comments.

We will show your comments as

submitted, including any supporting

data provided, but for technical reasons

we may omit items such as logos and

special characters. Identifying

information that you provide, such as

phone numbers and addresses, will be

publicly available. However, we will

attempt to remove email addresses to

help reduce internet spam.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

OCC: Chris McBride, Director for

Market Risk, Treasury and Market Risk

Policy, (202) 649–6402, or Allison

Hester-Haddad, Counsel, Chief

Counsel’s Office, (202) 649–5490, for

persons who are deaf or hearing

impaired, TTY (202) 649–5597, Office of

the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th

Street SW, Washington, DC 20219.

Board: Constance Horsley, Deputy

Associate Director, (202) 452–5239,

Peter Clifford, Manager, (202) 785–6057,

Lesley Chao, Lead Financial Institution

Policy Analyst, (202) 974–7063, or John

Feid, Principal Economist, (202) 452–

2385, Division of Supervision and

Regulation; Jason Shafer, Counsel, (202)

728–5811, or Justyna Bolter, Attorney,

(202) 452–2686, Legal Division, Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, 20th and C Streets NW,

Washington, DC 20551.

FDIC: Irina Leonova, Senior Policy

Analyst, ileonova@fdic.gov, Capital

Markets Branch, Division of Risk

Management Supervision, (202) 898–

3843; Thomas F. Hearn, Counsel,

thohearn@fdic.gov, Legal Division,

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,

550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC

20429.

FCA: Jeremy R. Edelstein, Associate

Director, Finance & Capital Market

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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 53 / Tuesday, March 19, 2019 / Rules and Regulations

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer

Protection Act, Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376

(2010).

See 7 U.S.C. 6s(e)(3)(A); 15 U.S.C. 78o–

10(e)(3)(A).

See 7 U.S.C. 6s; 15 U.S.C. 78o–10. Sections 731

and 764 of the Dodd-Frank Act added a new section

4s to the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as

amended, and a new section, section 15F, to the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,

respectively, which require registration with the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of

swap dealers and major swap participants and the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of

security-based swap dealers and major security-

based swap participants (each a swap entity and,

collectively, swap entities).

Section 1a(39) of the Commodity Exchange Act

of 1936, as amended, defines the term ‘‘prudential

regulator’’ for purposes of the margin requirements

applicable to swap dealers, major swap

participants, security-based swap dealers and major

security-based swap participants. The Board is the

prudential regulator for any swap entity that is (i)

a state-chartered bank that is a member of the

Federal Reserve System, (ii) a state-chartered

branch or agency of a foreign bank, (iii) a foreign

bank which does not operate an insured branch, (iv)

an organization operating under section 25A of the

Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, or having

an agreement with the Board under section 25 of

the Federal Reserve Act, or (v) a bank holding

company, a foreign bank that is treated as a bank

holding company under section 8(a) of the

International Banking Act of 1978, as amended, or

a savings and loan holding company (on or after the

transfer date established under section 311 of the

Dodd-Frank Act), or a subsidiary of such a company

or foreign bank (other than a subsidiary for which

the OCC or the FDIC is the prudential regulator or

that is required to be registered with the CFTC or

SEC as a swap dealer or major swap participant or

a security-based swap dealer or major security-

based swap participant, respectively). The OCC is

the prudential regulator for any swap entity that is

(i) a national bank, (ii) a federally chartered branch

or agency of a foreign bank, or (iii) a Federal savings

association. The FDIC is the prudential regulator for

any swap entity that is (i) a State-chartered bank

that is not a member of the Federal Reserve System,

or (ii) a State savings association. The FCA is the

prudential regulator for any swap entity that is an

institution chartered under the Farm Credit Act of

1971, as amended. The FHFA is the prudential

regulator for any swap entity that is a ‘‘regulated

entity’’ under the Federal Housing Enterprises

Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992, as

amended (i.e., the Federal National Mortgage

Association and its affiliates, the Federal Home

Loan Mortgage Corporation and its affiliates, and

the Federal Home Loan Banks). See 7 U.S.C. 1a(39).

A ‘‘swap’’ is defined in section 721 of the Dodd-

Frank Act to include, among other things, an

interest rate swap, commodity swap, equity swap,

and credit default swap, and a security-based swap

is defined in section 761 of the Dodd-Frank Act to

include a swap based on a single security or loan

or on a narrow-based security index. See 7 U.S.C.

1a(47); 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(68). For the remainder of

this preamble, the term ‘‘non-cleared swaps’’ refers

to non-cleared swaps and non-cleared security-

based swaps unless the context requires otherwise.

80 FR 74840 (November 30, 2015). The Swap

Margin Rule was amended to implement a statutory

exemption for non-cleared swaps entered into for

hedging by commercial end users and small

financial institutions, see 80 FR 74916 (November

30, 2015), and to address treatment of qualified

financial contracts, see 83 FR 50805 (October 10,

2018).

See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/

government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_

data/file/759019/25_November_Agreement_on_the_

withdrawal_of_the_United_Kingdom_of_Great_

Britain_and_Northern_Ireland_from_the_European_

Union_and_the_European_Atomic_Energy_

Community.pdf (visited February 5, 2019).

In this

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

, the

Agencies’ references to an establishment of a

financial entity is intended to be flexible as to

whether the relationship of the financial entity to

the business unit in the U.K. or elsewhere is due

to an affiliation between separately-incorporated

entities, branching of a single business entity in

different jurisdictions, or some other form of

business establishment through which an arm of the

financial entity may be legally authorized to

conduct business in that location.

The applicable compliance date for a covered

swap entity is based on the average daily aggregate

notional amount of non-cleared swaps, foreign

exchange forwards and foreign exchange swaps of

the covered swap entity and its counterparty

(accounting for their respective affiliates) for each

business day in March, April and May of that year.

The applicable compliance dates for initial margin

requirements, and the corresponding average daily

notional thresholds, are: September 1, 2016, $3

trillion; September 1, 2017, $2.25 trillion;

September 1, 2018, $1.5 trillion; September 1, 2019,

$0.75 trillion; and September 1, 2020, all swap

entities and counterparties. See §__.1(e) of the

Swap Margin Rule.

See §__.1(e) of the Swap Margin Rule.

80 FR 74850–51. See also, 83 FR 50805

(October 10, 2018) (the Agencies added paragraph

Team, Timothy T. Nerdahl, Senior

Policy Analyst, Office of Regulatory

Policy, (703) 883–4414, TTY (703) 883–

4056, or Richard A. Katz, Senior

Counsel, Office of General Counsel,

(703) 883–4020, TTY (703) 883–4056,

Farm Credit Administration, 1501 Farm

Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22102–5090.

FHFA: Ron Sugarman, Principal

Policy Analyst, Office of Policy Analysis

and Research, (202) 649–3208,

Ron.Sugarman@fhfa.gov, or James P.

Jordan, Associate General Counsel,

Office of General Counsel, (202) 649–

3075, James.Jordan@fhfa.gov, Federal

Housing Finance Agency, Constitution

Center, 400 7th St., SW, Washington, DC

20219. The telephone number for the

Telecommunications Device for the

Hearing Impaired is (800) 877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

I. Background

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform

and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-

Frank Act)

required the Agencies to

adopt rules jointly that establish capital

and margin requirements

for swap

entities

that are prudentially regulated

by one of the Agencies (covered swap

entities).

These capital and margin

requirements apply to swaps that are

not cleared by a registered derivatives

clearing organization or a registered

clearing agency (non-cleared swaps).

Swaps are certain types of financial

derivatives, such as interest rate swaps

and commodity swaps, that the Dodd-

Frank Act generally characterized as

‘‘swaps.’’

On November 30, 2015, the

Agencies published the Swap Margin

Rule to establish the minimum margin

and capital requirements for the non-

cleared swap portfolios of covered swap

entities.

The Agencies are issuing this interim

final rule in connection with efforts to

assist covered swap entities as they

prepare for the event commonly

described as ‘‘Brexit.’’ In particular, this

interim final rule is intended to address

a covered swap entity’s ability to service

its cross-border clients in the event that

the U.K. withdraws from the E.U.

without a Withdrawal Agreement.

Briefly stated, the interim final rule

amends the Swap Margin Rule to make

it clear that in such an event, financial

entities located in the U.K. may transfer

existing non-cleared swap portfolios

over to a sister establishment of the U.K.

financial entity that is located in an E.U.

Member State or the U.S., without

concerns of thereby triggering the

application of the Swap Margin Rule’s

margin requirements to non-cleared

swaps that had been grandfathered at

the financial entity in the U.K.

The

Agencies are also requesting public

comment whether additional provisions

or clarifications are needed to achieve

the Agencies’ objectives and provide

greater clarity.

In issuing the Swap Margin Rule in

2015, the Agencies established an

effective date of April 1, 2016, with a

phased in compliance schedule for the

initial and variation margin

requirements.

On or after March 1,

2017, all covered swap entities were

required to comply with the variation

margin requirements for transactions

with other swap entities and financial

end user counterparties. By September

1, 2020, all covered swap entities will

be required to comply with the initial

margin requirements for non-cleared

swaps with all financial end users with

a material swaps exposure and with all

swap entities.

The Swap Margin Rule’s requirements

generally apply only to a non-cleared

swap entered into on or after the

applicable compliance date.

A non-

cleared swap entered into prior to an

entity’s applicable compliance date is

essentially ‘‘grandfathered’’ by this

regulatory provision, in that the non-

cleared swap is generally not subject to

the margin requirements in the Swap

Margin Rule (legacy swap). However,

the Agencies explained in the preamble

of the Swap Margin Rule that a legacy

swap that is later amended or novated

on or after the applicable compliance

date should be subject to the

requirements of the Swap Margin Rule,

in the interests of preventing evasion of

the rule’s margin requirements.

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(7) to §__.1(e), to clarify that a legacy swap would

not lose its legacy status when the covered swap

entity acceded to changes to the non-cleared swap

as necessary to implement the QFC Receivership

Stay regulations of the Board, the FDIC, and the

OCC).

See §__.9(a)–(c) of the Swap Margin Rule.

See §__.9(a)–(c) of the As discussed later in

this

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

, the Agencies have

designed the interim final rule to recognize the

need for flexibility on the part of financial entities

as they attempt to work through the unanticipated

effects of a U.K. exit from the E.U. absent a

Withdrawal Agreement. For example, while this

discussion illustrates an E.U. establishment of a

covered swap entity taking on the swap portfolios

of the entity’s related covered swap entity in the

U.K., a different financial entity’s current structure

might mean the U.K. portfolio is currently held by

the financial entity’s CFTC-registered non-bank

subsidiary in the U.K., which is subject to the

CFTC’s non-cleared swap margin rule. As a general

matter, the CFTC’s rule and the Agencies’ Swap

Margin Rule impose the same requirements and

feature the same grandfathering. But the portfolio

transfer over to the financial entity’s covered swap

entity in the E.U. will, as a legal matter, subject

them to the Agencies’ swap margin rule once they

are transferred. Or some financial firms that operate

a covered swap entity through an establishment in

the U.S. may make strategic decisions to refrain

from opening a new E.U. establishment post-

withdrawal, and thus need to pull their U.K. non-

cleared swap portfolios back to their U.S. covered

swap entity.

See, e.g., Barclays Bank plc Part VII Business

transfer to Barclays Bank Ireland plc (2019) EWHC

129 (Ch), at http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/

Ch/2019/129.pdf (visited January 29, 2019); ‘‘Two

Banks Begin Moving Swaps out of London, Pre-

Brexit,’’ Risk.net (November 30, 2018), at https://

www.risk.net/derivatives/6168671/banks-begin-

moving-swaps-out-of-london-pre-brexit (visited

January 25, 2019); ‘‘UBS Wins Approval for Ö32bn

Brexit Swaps Transfer,’’ Risk.net (February 6, 2019),

at https://www.risk.net/derivatives/6367306/ubs-

wins-approval-for-eu32bn-brexit-swaps-transfer.

The three ESAs are the European Banking

Authority (EBA), the European Securities and

Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European

Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority

(EIOPA).

ESAs Propose to Amend Bilateral Margin

Requirements to Assist Brexit Preparations for OTC

Derivative Contracts (November 29, 2018), at

https://www.esma.europa.eu/press-news/esma-

news/esas-propose-amend-bilateral-margin-

requirements-assist-brexit-preparations-otc (visited

January 25, 2019).

A legacy swap may still be subjected to margin

requirements if the covered swap entity places the

swap into a netting set that includes other non-

cleared swaps that are entered into after the

compliance date applicable to the covered swap

entity. Swap Margin Rule §.__5(a)(3). Covered swap

entities use netting sets to calculate their margin

requirements for multiple swaps with a single

counterparty on a portfolio basis, offsetting asset

and liability exposures in the portfolio to one net

exposure, subject to conditions contained in the

Swap Margin Rule, including an enforceable legal

Continued

The Swap Margin Rule has a broad

territorial reach. It applies to swap

dealers and security-based swap dealers

that are registered with the CFTC or the

SEC, respectively, and for which one of

the Agencies is the prudential regulator,

including, for example, certain foreign

banks and foreign banking

organizations, certain entities

established abroad by U.S. banks, and

certain foreign branches of U.S. banks.

Typically, such firms are registered in

the foreign jurisdiction in which they

are located with the appropriate

financial regulatory authorities, but the

firms may also conduct swap activities

with counterparties that have significant

ties to the U.S. (or the dealer itself may

be a branch of a U.S. bank) under

circumstances that trigger dealer

registration obligations with the CFTC

or SEC. The Agencies included an

exemption from the requirements of the

Swap Margin Rule that applies

whenever a foreign covered swap entity

engages in a foreign non-cleared swap,

but the rule’s margin requirements still

apply when the counterparty has certain

connections to the U.S., such as when

the counterparty is a foreign branch or

office of an entity organized under U.S.

federal or state law.

As a result, there are instances in

which a covered swap entity engages in

non-cleared swap activities out of

establishments in the U.K. that are

subject to the requirements of the Swap

Margin Rule. The same is true in certain

instances for a covered swap entity

engaging in those activities out of an

establishment in another E.U. Member

State.

Financial entities, including covered

swap entities, in the U.K. face

uncertainty about the applicable

regulatory framework they will operate

within after a U.K. withdrawal from the

E.U. In many instances, these firms

made a strategic decision decades ago to

use a U.K. establishment as their base of

operations to provide financial services

to customers across the E.U., consistent

with the E.U.’s system of cross-border

authorizations to engage in regulated

financial activities (known as

‘‘passporting’’). These firms have been

mindful that one consequence of a U.K.

exit from the E.U. absent a Withdrawal

Agreement will be an inability of the

firms to continue providing investment

services in the E.U. under the current

passporting regime. As a result, they

might not be in a position to perform

certain operations in relation to

derivatives contracts they presently

have with E.U. clients. In order to

address this situation, these firms could

transfer their derivatives to a related

establishment in an E.U. Member State,

which in turn would benefit from the

passporting regime.

In addition, a covered swap entity

that operates an establishment located

outside the U.K. may be affected if the

U.K. exits the E.U. without a

Withdrawal Agreement. These covered

swap entities may have entered into

non-cleared swaps with financial

entities located in the U.K. These U.K.

counterparties of the covered swap

entity may need to relocate certain

operations, in order to continue

providing financial services to their own

customers in the E.U. Accordingly, a

covered swap entity’s counterparties

with establishments in the U.K. may

seek to transfer their non-cleared swaps

to related establishments of their own in

an E.U. Member State.

In recent months, some financial

entities have initiated processes under

which a U.K. court sanctions a bulk

transfer of their business, including

derivatives, from the balance sheets of

their U.K. establishments to a different

location established by the dealer in

another E.U. Member State.

For many

months before that, industry

stakeholders urged E.U. regulators to

provide certainty that these kinds of

portfolio transfers of swaps, entered into

before the E.U.’s swap margin rule, will

not become subject to E.U. swap margin

rules by virtue of the legal changes

associated with novations or other legal

transfer methods. The European

Supervisory Authorities (ESAs)

published a final report in November to

make a limited exemption in the

Commission Delegated Regulation

under the European Market

Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) for

bilateral margining requirements. The

exemption would facilitate novations of

these non-cleared swaps by ensuring

that the regulatory characteristics of the

original contracts are preserved.

The scheduled date of the U.K.

withdrawal is March 29, 2019. The

Agencies believe it is appropriate to

provide clarity, in order to facilitate the

work of covered swap entities and their

counterparties to transfer non-cleared

swaps in response to a U.K. exit from

the E.U. absent a Withdrawal

Agreement, without thereby converting

their legacy swaps into covered swaps

subject to the Swap Margin Rule. The

conditions of eligibility for the transfers

are described in the next section of this

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

II. Description of the Interim Final Rule

As discussed above, legacy swaps are

generally grandfathered from the Swap

Margin Rule’s requirements. More

specifically, § __.1(e) states that covered

swap entities shall comply with the

Swap Margin Rule’s minimum margin

requirements for non-cleared swaps

entered into on or after the compliance

date that the rule establishes for

separate classes of counterparties,

depending on the size of their swaps

portfolios.

However, in the preamble

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netting agreement with the counterparty. See §__

.5(a).

80 FR 74850–51. The Agencies articulated

concerns about the potential evasion of the Swap

Margin Rule if legacy swaps could be materially

amended and not become subject to the

requirements of the Swap Margin Rule, as well as

the Agencies’ concerns about the difficulty of

administrating a more complex regulatory approach

that attempted to draw distinctions among the

materiality of, or the intended purpose of,

amendments to legacy swaps.

The Agencies note that, regardless whether the

covered swap entity is driving the swap relocation,

or the covered swap entity’s counterparty is driving

the move, the covered swap entity will need to

participate in whatever amendments or other legal

steps are used to reflect the transfer of a bilateral

non-cleared swap contract.

See §__.1(h)(2)(ii), referring to non-cleared

swaps an entity in the U.K. arranges to amend in

order to transfer it to one of its affiliates, or a branch

or other authorized form of establishment, located

in an E.U. Member State.

See §__.1(h)(2)(i), referring to non-cleared

swap originally entered into before the relevant

compliance date under the Swap Margin Rule,

when one party to the swap booked it at, or

otherwise held it at, an entity (including a branch

or other authorized form of establishment) located

in the U.K.

See §__.1(h)(2)(ii), requiring the amendments

to be for the sole purpose of transferring the non-

cleared it to one of its affiliates, or a branch or other

authorized form of establishment, located in an E.U.

Member State, in connection with the entity’s

planning for or response to U.K. withdrawal.

to the Swap Margin Rule, in response to

comments, the Agencies declined to

include regulatory language that would

extend legacy swap treatment to a swap

if it is subsequently novated or amended

after the applicable compliance date,

expressing concerns about evasion and

implementation.

In the interim final rule, the Agencies

are amending § __.1 to add an additional

provision, paragraph § __.1(h). This new

provision is designed to preserve the

status quo for legacy swaps for a

covered swap entity in the event of a

‘‘no-deal’’ U.K. withdrawal, regardless

of whether that covered swap entity is

the swap counterparty directly involved

in the transfer out of the U.K. or the

counterparty on the other side of the

swap.

A covered swap entity may, for

example, use its establishment in the

E.U. to take on non-cleared swap

portfolios from its swap dealing affiliate

in the U.K. In a different case, the

covered swap entity’s establishments in

the E.U. and the U.K. may both be

branches of the same swap dealing

bank. Alternatively, there may be yet a

different relationship due to the

structure of the specific financial entity

involved.

On the other hand, the covered swap

entity may not move its operations in

any way, but it may have existing

portfolios of non-cleared swaps facing

counterparties who are themselves

relocating out of the U.K., to an affiliate,

or a branch, or some other type of

establishment outside of the U.K.

To be effective, the Agencies believe

this interim final rule must cover the

different scenarios that would trigger

the need for a covered swap entity to

participate in amending a non-cleared

swap in order to ‘‘relocate’’ the swap,

either on account of its own need to

move non-cleared swaps out of the U.K.,

or its counterparty’s need to do so.

Accordingly, the text of the interim

final rule is intended to be flexible as to

the nature of the financial entity’s

establishment—covered swap entity or

counterparty—maintained in the U.K.,

be it an entity organized under U.K. law,

or a branch or other authorized office

maintained in the U.K. by a firm that is

legally organized elsewhere. This

flexibility extends to the establishment

to which the non-cleared swaps are

transferred, so long as the transferring

establishment in the U.K. is related to

the receiving establishment outside the

U.K.

The interim final rule is also

intended to be flexible as to the manner

in which that establishment in the U.K

held its non-cleared swaps, either

because the financial entity booked the

swap at the U.K. establishment, or as

determined by other business or account

criteria the financial entity consistently

employs in assigning a particular non-

cleared swap to a particular

establishment.

To benefit from the treatment of this

new legacy swap provision, the

financial entity located in the U.K. must

arrange to make the amendments to the

non-cleared swap solely for the purpose

of transferring the non-cleared swap to

an affiliate or other related

establishment that is located in an E.U.

Member State (once the U.K. has

withdrawn from the E.U., as further

discussed below). This purpose test also

contains a requirement that the transfer

be made in connection with the U.K.

entity’s planning for the possibility that

the U.K. might exit the E.U. without a

Withdrawal Agreement, or the U.K.

entity’s response to such event.

The interim final rule is intended to

be flexible as to whether the

relationship aspect of the purpose test is

due to affiliation between separately-

incorporated entities, branching of a

single business entity in different

jurisdictions, or some other form of

business establishment through which

an arm of the financial entity may be

legally authorized to conduct business

in the E.U. Member State. The Agencies

have similarly included transfers to an

affiliate, or branch or other authorized

form of establishment, that the financial

entity maintains in the U.S. to provide

additional flexibility for financial

entities with U.S. headquarters or other

U.S. establishments.

For compliance purposes, the interim

final rule makes one distinction

between a transfer initiated by the

financial entity standing as the covered

swap entity at the completion of the

transaction, versus a transfer initiated

by the covered swap entity’s

counterparty. For the latter, the

counterparty must make a

representation to the covered swap

entity that the counterparty carried out

the swap in accordance with both

elements of the purpose test.

The interim final rule is designed to

permit such amendments as financial

entities find necessary to relocate non-

cleared swap portfolios out of the U.K.

under the purpose test. These changes

may be carried out using any of the

methods typically employed for

effecting non-cleared swap transfers,

including industry protocols,

contractual amendments, or contractual

tear-up and replacement. To the extent

they would otherwise trigger margin

requirements, judicially-supervised

changes that result in a non-cleared

swap being booked at or held by a

related establishment in the E.U.,

including by means of the court-

sanctioned process available under Part

VII of the U.K.’s Financial Services and

Markets Act of 2000, are similarly

within the scope of the interim final

rule.

However, the Agencies do not believe

the relief being provided for relocation

purposes should be expansively applied

to encompass economic changes to a

legacy swap. Accordingly, the rule text

makes legacy swap status unavailable if

the amendments to a non-cleared swap

modify the payment amount calculation

methods, the maturity date, or the

notional amount of the non-cleared

swap. Thus, for example, if the day

count convention of a non-cleared swap

changes as a consequence of re-locating

a non-cleared interest rate swap several

time zones away from the U.K., the

parties to the swap would not be

changing the payment amount

calculation methods. On the other hand,

a change to one of the payment amount

calculation economic factors (e.g., an

interest rate margin or base rate) would

be a change outside the scope of the

interim final rule and would trigger

application of the margin requirements.

The Agencies also seek to establish a

reasonable period of time for the

necessary work to achieve the transfers

to be performed. The interim final rule

permits transfers for a period of one year

after a U.K. withdrawal. The 1-year

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For an overview of the process by which an

E.U. Member State may withdraw from the E.U., see

the European Parliament Briefing, Article 50 TEU:

Withdrawal of a Member State from the E.U.

(February 2016), available at http://www.europarl.

europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/577971/

EPRS_BRI(2016)577971_EN.pdf (visited January

25th, 2019).

See Final Report on EMIR RTS on the novation

of bilateral contracts not subject to bilateral

margins, ESAs 2018 25 (November 27, 2018), at

https://eiopa.europa.eu/Publications/Reports/

ESAs%202018%2025%20-%20Final

%20Report%20-%20Bilateral%20margining%20

%28novation%29.pdf (visited January 25, 2019).

5 U.S.C. 553.

5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).

period commences at the point at which

the law of the European Union ceases to

apply in the U.K. pursuant to Article

50(3) of the Treaty on European Union,

without conclusion of a Withdrawal

Agreement between the U.K. and E.U.

pursuant to Article 50(2).

If the

present withdrawal date is extended,

and withdrawal later occurs at the end

of that extension without a Withdrawal

Agreement, the interim final rule’s 1-

year period would begin at that time.

The Agencies contemplate that, if the

withdrawal date is extended, financial

entities may negotiate and document

their desired transfers during the

intervening period, under terms that

delay consummation of any transfer

until withdrawal takes place without an

agreement and the interim final rule’s

substantive provisions are thereby

triggered.

The Agencies believe that a provision

enabling entities to transfer non-cleared

swaps while retaining legacy status

would be most effective if the timeframe

allowed takes into account the

timeframe under corresponding E.U.

legislation. As noted above, the ESAs

have submitted novation amendments

for their margin rules in proposed form

to the European Commission, but the

relief that would be afforded thereby has

not yet been finalized under the E.U.

process.

The ESAs’ draft Regulatory

Technical Standards provides relief for

one year after the amendments are

finalized by official publication, after

parliamentary approval. If the E.U.

amendments are not yet finalized at the

time of a U.K. withdrawal, affected

financial entities may delay

consummation of their non-cleared

swap transfers until the ESAs’ proposed

amendments apply. The Agencies

anticipate some transferring financial

entities will operate under both sets of

regulations and will accordingly seek to

coordinate their transfer operations for

compliance purposes under both sets of

amendments. To facilitate this, the

Agencies’ interim final rule has a

‘‘tacking’’ provision that will extend the

Agencies’ 1-year period by the amount

of any additional time available under

the ESAs’ 1-year period.

The interim final rule differs from the

ESAs’ proposed amendments to the

extent that the legacy status protection

afforded under the ESAs’ approach is

unavailable to derivatives entered into

after the official, final publication of the

amendments (which establishes the

legal effective date of the rule). The

Agencies have provided legacy status

protection to any swap entered into

before the applicable compliance date—

of which there are two still upcoming,

on September 1, 2019 and September 1,

2020—with no cutoff for swaps

executed before those dates but after

issuance of this interim final rule. The

Agencies believe the marginal volume of

additional legacy swaps that will be

protected by the Agencies’ approach is

not likely to be substantial, and the

additional time granted could facilitate

a more organized transition for the

affected counterparties.

III. Request for Comments

The Agencies request comment on all

aspects of the interim final rule as well

as on the following specific questions.

(1) The interim final rule permits

amendments to non-cleared swaps in

order to transfer swaps in response to

the scenario in which the U.K. exits the

E.U. in the absence of a Withdrawal

Agreement. As explained above, the

Agencies seek to encompass changes

through a variety of methods, including

industry protocols, contractual

amendments, transfers permitted by

judicial proceedings, and contractual

tear-up and replacement. What, if any,

additional clarification in the rule as to

types of permissible amendments

should the Agencies provide? What

specifically should be added or

clarified, and why is it necessary in

order to achieve the Agencies’ policy

objectives in the context of a U.K.

withdrawal from the E.U.?

(2) The relief provided by the interim

final rule applies to the transfer of

swaps from a financial entity’s

establishment in the U.K. to an

establishment in the E.U. or the U.S.

What, if any, other types of relief should

be considered for swaps that are

transferred from the E.U. to the U.K.?

Please provide a description of the

circumstances creating this need,

including the frequency of its

occurrence.

(3) The transfers that are

accommodated by the interim final rule

are available only between affiliates or

other related establishments. The

Agencies do not intend the relief

provided by the interim final rule to

provide an opportunity for financial

entities to seek out a new dealer

relationship and retain legacy swap

treatment. However, the Agencies

request comment on whether there may

be financial entities that are unable to

arrange a transfer of legacy swaps unless

the transfer is to an unrelated entity

outside the U.K. and are thus not

covered under the terms of the interim

final rule. Commenters should provide

descriptions of the factual

circumstances, including the frequency

of its occurrence.

IV. Administrative Law Matters

A. Administrative Procedure Act

The Agencies are issuing the interim

final rule without prior notice and the

opportunity for public comment and

without the 30-day delayed effective

date ordinarily prescribed by the

Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

Pursuant to section 553(b)(B) of the

APA, general notice and the opportunity

for public comment are not required

with respect to a rulemaking when an

‘‘agency for good cause finds (and

incorporates the finding and a brief

statement of reasons therefor in the

rules issued) that notice and public

procedure thereon are impracticable,

unnecessary, or contrary to the public

interest.’’

As discussed above, the interim final

rule addresses a potential impact of the

scenario in which the U.K. exits from

the E.U. in the absence of a Withdrawal

Agreement. The U.K.’s exit is expected

to occur on March 29, 2019. The interim

final rule facilitates the ability of a

financial entity with non-cleared swaps

located in the U.K. to relocate existing

swap portfolios over to affiliates or other

related entities located within the E.U.

or U.S., without the ‘‘grandfathered’’

legacy swaps in the portfolios becoming

subject to the Swap Margin Rule. As

such, the interim final rule benefits

covered swap entities subject to the

Swap Margin Rule by removing an

impediment to the transfers and

maintaining the status quo of a legacy

swap. The interim final rule does not

impose any requirements or mandatory

burden on any covered swap entity.

The Agencies believe that the public

interest is best served by making the

interim final rule effective as soon as

possible as a result of the expected

timing of events in the U.K. The

Agencies believe that issuing the

interim final rule will provide the

certainty necessary to facilitate the

industry’s efforts to begin arranging

their transfers immediately upon the

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5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B); 553(d)(3).

5 U.S.C. 553(d).

The agencies may be required to request new

control numbers.

The purpose test requires that the financial

entity located in the U.K. arrange to make the

amendments to the non-cleared swap solely for the

purpose of transferring the non-cleared swap to an

affiliate or other related establishment that is

located in an E.U. Member State. This purpose test

also contains a requirement that the transfer be

made in connection with the U.K. entity’s planning

for the possibility that the U.K. might exit the E.U.

without a Withdrawal Agreement, or the U.K.

entity’s response to such an event.

The FDIC’s estimates zero entities, but is

estimating one here as a placeholder.

U.K.’s withdrawal. In addition, the

Agencies believe that providing a notice

and comment period prior to issuance of

the interim final rule is impracticable

given the need for relief to begin on

March 29, 2019. For these reasons, the

Agencies find there is good cause

consistent with the public interest to

issue the interim final rule without

advance notice and comment.

The APA also requires a 30-day

delayed effective date, except for (1)

substantive rules which grant or

recognize an exemption or relieve a

restriction; (2) interpretative rules and

statements of policy; or (3) as otherwise

provided by the agency for good

cause.

The Agencies find good cause

to publish the interim final rule with an

immediate effective date for the same

reasons set forth above under the

discussion of section 553(b)(B) of the

APA.

While the Agencies believe there is

good cause to issue the interim final

rule without advance notice and

comment and with an immediate

effective date, the Agencies are

requesting comment on all aspects of

the interim final rule.

B. Solicitation of Comments on Use of

Plain Language

Section 722 of the Gramm-Leach-

Bliley Act, Public Law 106–102, sec.

722, 113 Stat. 1338, 1471 (Nov. 12,

1999), requires the OCC, Board and

FDIC to use plain language in all

proposed and final rules published after

January 1, 2000. The OCC, Board and

FDIC invite your comments on how to

make this proposal easier to understand.

For example:

•Have we organized the material to

suit your needs? If not, how could this

material be better organized?

•Are the requirements in the

regulation clearly stated? If not, how

could the regulation be more clearly

stated?

•Does the regulation contain

language or jargon that is not clear? If

so, which language requires

clarification?

•Would a different format (grouping

and order of sections, use of headings,

paragraphing) make the regulation

easier to understand? If so, what

changes to the format would make the

regulation easier to understand?

•What else could we do to make the

regulation easier to understand?

C. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis

In accordance with the requirements

of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521, the

Agencies may not conduct or sponsor,

and a respondent is not required to

respond to, an information collection

unless it displays a currently-valid

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) control number. The OCC,

Board, and FDIC have reviewed this

interim final rule and determined that it

introduces a new collection of

information pursuant to the PRA and

the OCC and FDIC have submitted it to

OMB for review under section 3507(d)

of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)) and

section 1320.11 of the OMB’s

implementing regulations (5 CFR 1320).

The Board has reviewed the information

collection under its delegated authority.

The OMB Control Numbers are: 1557–

0251 (OCC), 3064–0204 (FDIC), and

7100–0364 (Board).

The FCA has

determined the rule will not introduce

any collection of information for Farm

Credit System institutions because Farm

Credit System institutions are Federally

chartered instrumentalities of the

United States and instrumentalities of

the United States are specifically

excepted from the definition of

‘‘collection of information’’ contained in

44 U.S.C. 3502(3). The FHFA has

determined that the interim final rule

does not contain any collection of

information for which the agency must

obtain clearance under the PRA.

Section __.1(h) specifies that transfers

of legacy swaps initiated by a covered

swap entity’s counterparty require a

representation to the covered swap

entity that the counterparty carried out

the swap in accordance with both

elements of the purpose test

in order

to remain outside the scope of the rule.

The agencies estimate that the burden

for this representation is de minimis.

Therefore, they are estimating minimal

burden for this requirement.

OCC:

Estimated Number of Respondents:

10.

Estimated Burden per Response: 1

hour.

Total Estimated Burden: 10 hour.

FRB:

Estimated Number of Respondents:

41.

Estimated Burden per Response: 1

hour.

Total Estimated Burden: 41 hours.

FDIC:

Estimated Number of Respondents:

Estimated Burden per Response: 1

hour.

Total Estimated Burden: 1 hour.

Comments are invited on:

a. Whether the collections of

information are necessary for the proper

performance of the agencies’ functions,

including whether the information has

practical utility;

b. The accuracy or the estimate of the

burden of the information collections,

including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

c. Ways to enhance the quality,

utility, and clarity of the information to

be collected;

d. Ways to minimize the burden of the

information collections on respondents,

including through the use of automated

collection techniques or other forms of

information technology; and

e. Estimates of capital or startup costs

and costs of operation, maintenance,

and purchase of services to provide

information.

All comments will become a matter of

public record. Comments on aspects of

this notice that may affect reporting,

recordkeeping, or disclosure

requirements and burden estimates

should be sent to the addresses listed in

the

ADDRESSES

section of this document.

A copy of the comments may also be

submitted to the OMB desk officer by

mail to U.S. Office of Management and

Budget, 725 17th Street NW, #10235,

Washington, DC 20503; facsimile to

(202) 395–6974; or email to oira_

submission@omb.eop.gov, Attention,

Federal Banking Agency Desk Officer.

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

OCC: The Regulatory Flexibility Act

(RFA) does not apply to a rulemaking

when a general notice of proposed

rulemaking is not required. 5 U.S.C. 603

and 604. As noted previously, the

Agencies have determined for good

cause that it is impracticable and

contrary to the public interest to publish

a general notice of proposed rulemaking

for this joint final rule. Accordingly, the

RFA’s requirements relating to an initial

and final regulatory flexibility analysis

do not apply.

Board: The Regulatory Flexibility Act

(RFA) requires an agency to consider

whether the rules it proposes will have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

The RFA applies only to rules for which

an agency publishes a general notice of

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5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.

The SBA defines a small banking organization

as having $550 million or less in assets, where ‘‘a

financial institution’s assets are determined by

averaging the assets reported on its four quarterly

financial statements for the preceding year.’’ 13 CFR

121.201 n.8 (2018). ‘‘SBA counts the receipts,

employees, or other measure of size of the concern

whose size is at issue and all of its domestic and

foreign affiliates. . . .’’ 13 CFR 121.103(a)(6)

(2018). Following these regulations, the FDIC uses

a covered entity’s affiliated and acquired assets,

averaged over the preceding four quarters, to

determine whether the covered entity is ‘‘small’’ for

the purposes of RFA.

FDIC-supervised institutions are set forth in 12

U.S.C. 1813(q)(2).

FDIC Call Report, September 30, 2018.

In identifying the 104 entities referred to in the

text, the Agencies used the list of swap dealers set

forth, on February 12, 2019 (providing data as of

February 12, 2019) at https://www.cftc.gov/

LawRegulation/DoddFrankAct/

registerswapdealer.html. While the CFTC has

adopted a registration requirement for entities that

meet the definition of major swap participants, as

of February 12, 2019, the CFTC’s website does not

indicate that any entities are currently registered as

major swap participants. Major swap participants

are required to apply for registration through a

filing with the National Futures Association.

Accordingly, the Agencies reviewed the National

Futures Association https://www.nfa.futures.org/

members/sd/index.html to determine whether there

were registered major swap participants. As of

February 11, 2019, there were no Major Swaps

Participants listed on this link. The SEC has not yet

imposed a registration requirement for security-

based swap dealers or major security-based swap

participants.

12 U.S.C. 4802.

proposed rulemaking pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 553(b). As discussed previously,

consistent with section 553(b)(B) of the

APA, the Board has determined for good

cause that general notice and

opportunity for public comment is

impracticable and contrary to the

public’s interest, and therefore the

Board is not issuing a notice of

proposed rulemaking. Accordingly, the

Board has concluded that the RFA’s

requirements relating to initial and final

regulatory flexibility analysis do not

apply. Further, the Board notes that no

small entities, as defined by the Small

Business Administration’s rules

implementing the RFA, will be affected

by the interim final rule.

FDIC: The Regulatory Flexibility Act

(RFA)

requires an agency to consider

whether the rules it proposes will have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

The RFA applies only to rules for which

an agency publishes a general notice of

proposed rulemaking pursuant to 5

U.S.C. 553(b). As discussed in the joint

interim final rule, consistent with

section 553(b)(B) of the APA, the FDIC

determined for good cause that general

notice and opportunity for public

comment was unnecessary, and

therefore the FDIC did not issue a notice

of proposed rulemaking. Accordingly,

the FDIC has concluded that the RFA’s

requirements relating to initial and final

regulatory flexibility analysis do not

apply. Further, the FDIC supervises

3,533 depository institutions,

which 2,726 are defined as small

banking entities by the terms of the

RFA.

This interim final rule directly

applies to covered swap entities (which

includes persons registered with the

CFTC as swap dealers or major swap

participants pursuant to the Commodity

Exchange Act of 1936 and persons

registered with the SEC as security-

based swap dealers and major security-

based swap participants under the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that

are subject to the requirements of the

Swap Margin Rule. The FDIC has

identified 104 swap dealers that, as of

February 12, 2019, have registered as

swap entities.

None of these

institutions are supervised by the FDIC.

Therefore, no small FDIC-supervised

entities, as defined by the Small

Business Administration’s rules

implementing the RFA, will be affected

by the interim final rule.

FCA: Pursuant to section 605(b) of the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601

et seq.), the FCA hereby certifies that the

interim final rule will not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

Each of the banks in the Farm Credit

System, considered together with its

affiliated associations, has assets and

annual income more than the amounts

that would qualify them as small

entities. Nor does the Federal

Agricultural Mortgage Corporation meet

the definition of a ‘‘small entity.’’

Therefore, Farm Credit System

institutions are not ‘‘small entities’’ as

defined in the Regulatory Flexibility

Act.

FHFA: The RFA applies only to rules

for which an agency is required to

publish a general notice of proposed

rulemaking pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b).

As discussed in the joint interim final

rule, consistent with section 553(b)(B) of

the APA, FHFA determined for good

cause that general notice and

opportunity for public comment was

impracticable and contrary to the public

interest, and therefore FHFA did not

issue a notice of proposed rulemaking.

Accordingly, FHFA has concluded that

the RFA’s requirements relating to

initial and final regulatory flexibility

analysis do not apply. This interim final

rule directly applies to covered swap

entities (which includes persons

registered with the CFTC as swap

dealers or major swap participants

pursuant to the Commodity Exchange

Act of 1936 and persons registered with

the SEC as security-based swap dealers

and major security-based swap

participants under the Securities

Exchange Act of 1934) that are subject

to the requirements of the Swap Margin

Rule. No FHFA-regulated entity is a

covered swap entity, nor is any FHFA-

regulated entity a small entity, as

defined by the Small Business

Administration’s rules implementing

the RFA. Therefore, no small FHFA-

regulated entity will be affected by the

interim final rule.

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of

1995

Section 202 of the Unfunded

Mandates Reform Act of 1995

(Unfunded Mandates Act), 2 U.S.C.

1532, requires the OCC to prepare a

budgetary impact statement before

promulgating any final rule for which a

general notice of proposed rulemaking

was published. As discussed above, the

OCC has determined for good cause that

the publication of a general notice of

proposed rulemaking is impracticable

and contrary to the public interest.

Accordingly, this joint final rule is not

subject to section 202 of the Unfunded

Mandates Act.

F. Riegle Community Development and

Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994

The Riegle Community Development

and Regulatory Improvement Act of

1994 (RCDRIA) requires that each

Federal banking agency, in determining

the effective date and administrative

compliance requirements for new

regulations that impose additional

reporting, disclosure, or other

requirements on insured depository

institutions, consider, consistent with

principles of safety and soundness and

the public interest, any administrative

burdens that such regulations would

place on depository institutions,

including small depository institutions,

and customers of depository

institutions, as well as the benefits of

such regulations. In addition, new

regulations and amendments to

regulations that impose additional

reporting, disclosures, or other new

requirements on insured depository

institutions generally must take effect

on the first day of a calendar quarter

that begins on or after the date on which

the regulations are published in final

form.

Each Federal banking agency

has determined that the final rule would

not impose additional reporting,

disclosure, or other requirements;

therefore the requirements of the

RCDRIA do not apply.

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List of Subjects

12 CFR Part 45

Administrative practice and

procedure, Capital, Margin

requirements, National banks, Federal

savings associations, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Risk.

12 CFR Part 237

Administrative practice and

procedure, Banks, Banking, Foreign

banking, Holding companies, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements,

Swaps.

12 CFR Part 349

Administrative practice and

procedure, Banks, Banking, Holding

companies, Capital, Margin

Requirements, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Savings

associations, Risk, Swaps.

12 CFR Part 624

Accounting, Agriculture, Banks,

Banking, Capital, Cooperatives, Credit,

Margin requirements, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Risk, Rural

areas, Swaps.

12 CFR Part 1221

Government-sponsored enterprises,

Mortgages, Securities.

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency

12 CFR Chapter I

Authority and Issuance

For the reasons set forth in the

common preamble and under the

authority of 12 U.S.C. 93a and

5412(b)(2)(B), the Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency amends

chapter I of Title 12, Code of Federal

Regulations, as follows:

PART 45—MARGIN AND CAPITAL

REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERED

SWAP ENTITIES

■1. The authority citation for part 45

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6s(e), 12 U.S.C. 1 et

seq., 12 U.S.C. 93a, 161, 481, 1818, 3907,

3909, 5412(b)(2)(B), and 15 U.S.C. 78o–10(e).

■2. Section 45.1 is amended by adding

paragraph (h) to read as follows:

§ 45.1 Authority, purpose, scope,

exemptions and compliance dates.

* * * * *

(h) Legacy swaps. Covered swaps

entities are required to comply with the

requirements of this part for non-cleared

swaps and non-cleared security-based

swaps entered into on or after the

relevant compliance dates for variation

margin and for initial margin

established in paragraph (e) of this

section. Any non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security-based swap entered

into before such relevant date shall

remain outside the scope of this part if

changes are made to it as follows:

(1) [Reserved]

(2) The non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security based swap was

amended under the following

conditions:

(i) The swap was originally entered

into before the relevant compliance date

established in paragraph (e) of this

section and one party to the swap

booked it at, or otherwise held it at, an

entity (including a branch or other

authorized form of establishment)

located in the United Kingdom;

(ii) The entity in the United Kingdom

subsequently arranged to amend the

swap, solely for the purpose of

transferring it to an affiliate, or a branch

or other authorized form of

establishment, located in any European

Union member state or the United

States, in connection with the entity’s

planning for or response to the event

described in paragraph (h)(2)(iii) of this

section, and the transferee is:

(A) A covered swap entity, or

(B) A covered swap entity’s

counterparty to the swap, and the

counterparty represents to the covered

swap entity that the counterparty

performed the transfer in compliance

with the requirements of paragraphs

(h)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section;

(iii) The law of the European Union

ceases to apply to the United Kingdom

pursuant to Article 50(3) of the Treaty

on European Union, without conclusion

of a Withdrawal Agreement between the

United Kingdom and the European

Union pursuant to Article 50(2);

(iv) The amendments do not modify

any of the following: The payment

amount calculation methods, the

maturity date, or the notional amount of

the swap;

(v) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect on or after the date

of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section transpires; and

(iv) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect by the later of:

(A) The date that is one year after the

date of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii); or

(B) Such other date permitted by

transitional provisions under Article 35

of Commission Delegated Regulation

(E.U.) No. 2016/2251, as amended.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

12 CFR Chapter II

Authority and Issuance

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System amends 12 CFR

part 237 to read as follows:

PART 237—SWAPS MARGIN AND

SWAPS PUSH-OUT

■3. The authority citation for part 237

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6s(e), 15 U.S.C. 78o–

10(e), 15 U.S.C. 8305, 12 U.S.C. 221 et seq.,

12 U.S.C. 343–350, 12 U.S.C. 1818, 12 U.S.C.

1841 et seq., 12 U.S.C. 3101 et seq., and 12

U.S.C. 1461 et seq.

Subpart A—Margin and Capital

Requirements for Covered Swap

Entities (Regulation KK)

■4. Section 237.1 is amended by adding

paragraph (h) to read as follows:

§ 237.1 Authority, purpose, scope,

exemptions and compliance dates.

* * * * *

(h) Legacy swaps. Covered swaps

entities are required to comply with the

requirements of this subpart for non-

cleared swaps and non-cleared security-

based swaps entered into on or after the

relevant compliance dates for variation

margin and for initial margin

established in paragraph (e) of this

section. Any non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security-based swap entered

into before such relevant date shall

remain outside the scope of this subpart

if changes are made to it as follows:

(1) [Reserved]

(2) The non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security based swap was

amended under the following

conditions:

(i) The swap was originally entered

into before the relevant compliance date

established in paragraph (e) of this

section and one party to the swap

booked it at, or otherwise held it at, an

entity (including a branch or other

authorized form of establishment)

located in the United Kingdom;

(ii) The entity in the United Kingdom

subsequently arranged to amend the

swap, solely for the purpose of

transferring it to an affiliate, or a branch

or other authorized form of

establishment, located in any European

Union member state or the United

States, in connection with the entity’s

planning for or response to the event

described in paragraph (h)(2)(iii) of this

section, and the transferee is:

(A) A covered swap entity, or

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(B) A covered swap entity’s

counterparty to the swap, and the

counterparty represents to the covered

swap entity that the counterparty

performed the transfer in compliance

with the requirements of paragraphs

(h)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section;

(iii) The law of the European Union

ceases to apply to the United Kingdom

pursuant to Article 50(3) of the Treaty

on European Union, without conclusion

of a Withdrawal Agreement between the

United Kingdom and the European

Union pursuant to Article 50(2);

(iv) The amendments do not modify

any of the following: The payment

amount calculation methods, the

maturity date, or the notional amount of

the swap;

(v) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect on or after the date

of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section transpires; and

(vi) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect by the later of:

(A) The date that is one year after the

date of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section; or

(B) Such other date permitted by

transitional provisions under Article 35

of Commission Delegated Regulation

(E.U.) No. 2016/2251, as amended.

FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE

CORPORATION

12 CFR Chapter III

Authority and Issuance

For the reasons set forth in the

Supplementary Information section, the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

amends 12 CFR chapter III as follows:

PART 349—DERIVATIVES

■5. The authority citation for subpart A

of part 349 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6s(e), 15 U.S.C. 78o–

10(e), and 12 U.S.C. 1818 and 12 U.S.C.

1819(a)(Tenth), 12 U.S.C. 1813(q), 1818,

1819, and 3108.

■6. Section 349.1 is amended by adding

paragraph (h) to read as follows:

§ 349.1 Authority, purpose, scope,

exemptions and compliance dates.

* * * * *

(h) Legacy swaps. Covered swaps

entities are required to comply with the

requirements of this part for non-cleared

swaps and non-cleared security-based

swaps entered into on or after the

relevant compliance dates for variation

margin and for initial margin

established in paragraph (e) of this

section. Any non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security-based swap entered

into before such relevant date shall

remain outside the scope of this part if

changes are made to the non-cleared

swap or non-cleared security-based

swap it as follows:

(1) [Reserved]

(2) The non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security based swap was

amended under the following

conditions:

(i) The swap was originally entered

into, booked at, or otherwise held at, an

entity located in the United Kingdom

before the relevant compliance date

established in paragraph (e) of this

section and one party to the swap

booked it at, or otherwise held it at, an

entity (including a branch or other

authorized form of establishment)

located in the United Kingdom;

(ii) The entity in the United Kingdom

subsequently arranged to amend the

swap, solely for the purpose of

transferring it to an affiliate, or a branch

or other authorized form of

establishment, located in any European

Union member state or the United

States, in connection with the entity’s

planning for or response to the event

described in paragraph (h)(2)(iii) of this

section, and the transferee is:

(A) A covered swap entity, or

(B) A covered swap entity’s

counterparty to the swap, and the

counterparty represents to the covered

swap entity that the counterparty

performed the transfer in compliance

with the requirements of paragraphs

(h)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section; subject

to the following conditions:

(iii) The law of the European Union

ceases to apply [to] the United Kingdom

pursuant to Article 50(3) of the Treaty

on European Union, without conclusion

of a Withdrawal Agreement between the

United Kingdom and the European

Union pursuant to Article 50(2);

(iv) The amendments do not modify

any of the following: The payment

amount calculation methods, the

maturity date, or the notional amount of

the swap or non-cleared swap;

(v) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect on or after the date

of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section transpires; and

(vi) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect by the later of:

(A) The date that is one year after the

date of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section; or

(B) Such other date permitted by

transitional provisions under Article 35

of Commission Delegated Regulation

(E.U.) No. 2016/2251, as amended.

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION

Authority and Issuance

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, the Farm Credit

Administration amends chapter VI of

title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, as

follows:

PART 624—MARGIN AND CAPITAL

REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERED

SWAP ENTITIES

■1. The authority citation for part 624

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6s(e), 15 U.S.C. 78o–

10(e), 12 U.S.C. 2154, 12 U.S.C. 2243, 12

U.S.C. 2252, 12 U.S.C. 2279bb–1.

■2. Section 624.1 is amended by adding

paragraph (h) to read as follows:

§ 624.1 Authority, purpose, scope,

exemptions and compliance dates.

* * * * *

(h) Legacy swaps. Covered swaps

entities are required to comply with the

requirements of this part for non-cleared

swaps and non-cleared security-based

swaps entered into on or after the

relevant compliance dates for variation

margin and for initial margin

established in paragraph (e) of this

section. Any non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security-based swap entered

into before such relevant date shall

remain outside the scope of this part if

changes are made to it as follows:

(1) [Reserved]

(2) The non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security-based swap was

amended under the following

conditions:

(i) The swap was originally entered

into before the relevant compliance date

established in paragraph (e) of this

section and one party to the swap

booked it at, or otherwise held it at, an

entity (including a branch or other

authorized form of establishment)

located in the United Kingdom;

(ii) The entity in the United Kingdom

subsequently arranged to amend the

swap, solely for the purpose of

transferring it to an affiliate, or a branch

or other authorized form of

establishment, located in any European

Union member state or the United

States, in connection with the entity’s

planning for or response to the event

described in paragraph (h)(2)(iii) of this

section, and the transferee is:

(A) A covered swap entity, or

(B) A covered swap entity’s

counterparty to the swap, and the

counterparty represents to the covered

swap entity that the counterparty

performed the transfer in compliance

with the requirements of paragraphs

(h)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section;

(iii) The law of the European Union

ceases to apply to the United Kingdom

pursuant to Article 50(3) of the Treaty

on European Union, without conclusion

of a Withdrawal Agreement between the

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United Kingdom and the European

Union pursuant to Article 50(2);

(iv) The amendments do not modify

any of the following: The payment

amount calculation methods, the

maturity date, or the notional amount of

the swap;

(v) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect on or after the date

of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section transpires; and

(iv) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect by the later of:

(A) The date that is one year after the

date of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section; or

(B) Such other date permitted by

transitional provisions under Article 35

of Commission Delegated Regulation

(E.U.) No. 2016/2251, as amended.

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE

AGENCY

Authority and Issuance

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, the Federal Housing Finance

Agency amends chapter XII of title 12,

Code of Federal Regulations, as follows:

PART 1221—MARGIN AND CAPITAL

REQUIREMENTS FOR COVERED

SWAP ENTITIES

■1. The authority citation for part 1221

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 6s(e), 15 U.S.C. 78o–

10(e), 12 U.S.C. 4513, and 12 U.S.C. 4526(a).

■2. Section 1221.1 is amended by

adding paragraph (h) to read as follows:

§ 1221.1 Authority, purpose, scope,

exemptions, and compliance dates.

* * * * *

(h) Legacy swaps. Covered swaps

entities are required to comply with the

requirements of this part for non-cleared

swaps and non-cleared security-based

swaps entered into on or after the

relevant compliance dates for variation

margin and for initial margin

established in paragraph (e) of this

section. Any non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security-based swap entered

into before such relevant date shall

remain outside the scope of this part if

changes are made to it as follows:

(1) [Reserved]

(2) The non-cleared swap or non-

cleared security based swap was

amended under the following

conditions:

(i) The swap was originally entered

into before the relevant compliance date

established in paragraph (e) of this

section and one party to the swap

booked it at, or otherwise held it at, an

entity (including a branch or other

authorized form of establishment)

located in the United Kingdom;

(ii) The entity in the United Kingdom

subsequently arranged to amend the

swap, solely for the purpose of

transferring it to an affiliate, or a branch

or other authorized form of

establishment, located in any European

Union member state or the United

States, in connection with the entity’s

planning for or response to the event

described in paragraph (h)(2)(iii) of this

section, and the transferee is:

(A) A covered swap entity, or

(B) A covered swap entity’s

counterparty to the swap, and the

counterparty represents to the covered

swap entity that the counterparty

performed the transfer in compliance

with the requirements of paragraphs

(h)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section;

(iii) The law of the European Union

ceases to apply to the United Kingdom

pursuant to Article 50(3) of the Treaty

on European Union, without conclusion

of a Withdrawal Agreement between the

United Kingdom and the European

Union pursuant to Article 50(2);

(iv) The amendments do not modify

any of the following: The payment

amount calculation methods, the

maturity date, or the notional amount of

the swap;

(v) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect on or after the date

of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section transpires; and

(vi) The amendments cause the

transfer to take effect by the later of:

(A) The date that is one year after the

date of the event described in paragraph

(h)(2)(iii) of this section; or

(B) Such other date permitted by

transitional provisions under Article 35

of Commission Delegated Regulation

(E.U.) No. 2016/2251, as amended.

Dated: March 7, 2019.

Joseph M. Otting,

Comptroller of the Currency.

By order of the Board of Governors of the

Federal Reserve System, March 12, 2019.

Margaret McCloskey Shanks,

Deputy Secretary of the Board.

Dated at Washington, DC, on March 8,

2019.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Valerie J. Best,

Assistant Executive Secretary.

By order of the Board of the Farm Credit

Administration.

Dated at McLean, VA, this 5th day of

March 2019.

Dale L. Aultman,

Secretary.

Dated: March 7, 2019.

Joseph M. Otting,

Acting Director, Federal Housing Finance

Agency.

[FR Doc. 2019–05012 Filed 3–18–19; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4810–33–P; 6210–01–P, 6714–01–P,

8070–01–P, 6705–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

14 CFR Part 91

[Docket No.: FAA–2011–0246; Amdt. No.

91–321D]

RIN 2120–AL40

Amendment of the Prohibition Against

Certain Flights in the Tripoli Flight

Information Region (FIR) (HLLL)

AGENCY

: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), Department of

Transportation (DOT).

ACTION

: Final rule.

SUMMARY

: This action extends, with

modifications to reflect changed

conditions in Libya, the Special Federal

Aviation Regulation (SFAR) prohibiting

certain flight operations in the Tripoli

Flight Information Region (FIR) (HLLL)

by all: United States (U.S.) air carriers;

U.S. commercial operators; persons

exercising the privileges of an airman

certificate issued by the FAA, except

when such persons are operating U.S.-

registered aircraft for a foreign air

carrier; and operators of U.S.-registered

civil aircraft, except where the operator

of such aircraft is a foreign air carrier.

This action extends the prohibition of

U.S. civil flight operations in the Tripoli

FIR (HLLL) at altitudes below Flight

Level (FL) 300 to safeguard against

continuing hazards to U.S. civil

aviation. However, this action also

reduces the scope of the prohibition,

permitting U.S. civil aviation overflights

of the Tripoli FIR (HLLL) at altitudes at

and above FL300 to resume, due to the

reduced risk to U.S. civil aviation

operations at those altitudes. The FAA

also republishes, with minor revisions,

the approval process and exemption

information for this SFAR, consistent

with other recently published flight

prohibition SFARs; makes a minor

editorial change to the title of the rule;

and makes other minor revisions for

consistency with other recently

published flight prohibition SFARs.

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Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
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Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
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Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.

Subscribers are able to see a list of all the cited cases and legislation of a document.

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Over 100 Countries

Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
Thousands of Data Sources

Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
Find What You Need, Quickly

Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
Over 2 million registered users

Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.

Subscribers are able to see a list of all the documents that have cited the case.

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Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
Thousands of Data Sources

Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
Find What You Need, Quickly

Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
Over 2 million registered users

Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.

Subscribers are able to see the revised versions of legislation with amendments.

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Over 100 Countries

Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
Thousands of Data Sources

Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
Find What You Need, Quickly

Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
Over 2 million registered users

Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.

Subscribers are able to see any amendments made to the case.

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Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
Thousands of Data Sources

Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
Find What You Need, Quickly

Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
Over 2 million registered users

Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.

Subscribers are able to see a visualisation of a case and its relationships to other cases. An alternative to lists of cases, the Precedent Map makes it easier to establish which ones may be of most relevance to your research and prioritise further reading. You also get a useful overview of how the case was received.

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Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
Thousands of Data Sources

Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
Find What You Need, Quickly

Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
Over 2 million registered users

Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.

Subscribers are able to see the list of results connected to your document through the topics and citations Vincent found.

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Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Search over 120 million documents from over 100 countries including primary and secondary collections of legislation, case law, regulations, practical law, news, forms and contracts, books, journals, and more.
Thousands of Data Sources

Updated daily, vLex brings together legal information from over 750 publishing partners, providing access to over 2,500 legal and news sources from the world’s leading publishers.
Find What You Need, Quickly

Advanced A.I. technology developed exclusively by vLex editorially enriches legal information to make it accessible, with instant translation into 14 languages for enhanced discoverability and comparative research.
Over 2 million registered users

Founded over 20 years ago, vLex provides a first-class and comprehensive service for lawyers, law firms, government departments, and law schools around the world.

Margin and Capital Requirements for Covered Swap Entities

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Over 100 Countries

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Over 2 million registered users

You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.

Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Thousands of Data Sources

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Over 2 million registered users

You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.

Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Thousands of Data Sources

Find What You Need, Quickly

Over 2 million registered users

You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.

Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Thousands of Data Sources

Find What You Need, Quickly

Over 2 million registered users

You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.

Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Thousands of Data Sources

Find What You Need, Quickly

Over 2 million registered users

Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Thousands of Data Sources

Find What You Need, Quickly

Over 2 million registered users

You can sign up for a trial and make the most of our service including these benefits.

Why Sign-up to vLex?

Over 100 Countries

Thousands of Data Sources

Find What You Need, Quickly

Over 2 million registered users