WASHINGTON—Five federal agencies published a final rule Friday to consolidate two regulations that would establish uniform swap margin requirements that impose restrictions on certain qualified financial contracts.
The Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Farm Credit Administration
The changes to the swap margin rule ensure that netting agreements of firms subject to the rule are not excluded from the definition of an eligible master netting agreement based on their compliance with the QFC rules, according to the agencies.
In swap arrangements, netting is generally meant to simplify the amount two parties pay and receive in a deal.
The five agencies originally issued the swap margin rule in 2015 to set minimum margin requirements for swaps and security-based swaps that are not cleared through a clearinghouse.
“The margin requirements are designed to help ensure the safety and soundness of swap entities and reduce risks to the stability of the financial system associated with non-cleared swaps activity,” the agencies said in a release.
The final rule is expected to go into effect in 30 days.
