CFTC Letter Clarifies Reporting Requirements for Bank Swap Dealers

The CFTC staff determined that providing the conditional relief on a temporary basis would not adversely impact the ability to monitor the capital position of bank swap dealers to the extent of its obligation under the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. The letter was issued in response to a joint request received from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on behalf of their swap dealers members who are otherwise required to comply, by October 06, 2021, with the newly adopted capital and financial reporting requirements of CFTC. In their letter, they requested confirmation that the Market Participants Division of CFTC will not recommend an enforcement action if certain swap dealers subject to capital requirements of a prudential regulator fail to comply with financial reporting requirements set forth in Commission regulation. 

In this recently published letter, the Market Participants Division of CFTC states that it will not recommend that CFTC take an enforcement action against a bank swap dealer for failure to comply with certain financial reporting requirements if:

• A bank swap dealer that files a Call Report with its applicable U.S. prudential regulator files the Schedule RC—Balance Sheet and the Schedule RC-R—Regulatory Capital from the Call Report, and Schedule 1 from Appendix C to Subpart E of Part 23 of CFTC's regulations, with CFTC on a quarterly basis in lieu of the Balance Sheet and Statement of Regulatory Capital required under Appendix C, provided that the bank swap dealer files the above schedules with CFTC within the timeframe permitted by its applicable prudential regulator to file its Call Report. 
• A covered non-U.S. bank swap dealer that does not file a Call Report with a U.S. prudential regulator files a statement of financial condition and a statement of regulatory capital in lieu of the Balance Sheet and Statement of Regulatory Capital required under Appendix C, provided that the statements filed with CFTC contain comparable financial information to the information contained in the Balance Sheet and Statement of Regulatory Capital, and such statements are filed with the covered non-U.S. bank swap dealers home country regulator; and include Schedule 1 of Appendix C with its balance sheet and statement of regulatory capital when filed with CFTC.
• A covered non-U.S. bank swap dealer that prepares and presents the statement of financial condition, the statement of regulatory capital, and Schedule 1 in accordance with the accounting standards permitted by its applicable home-country regulator, including the accounting principles established in its home jurisdiction, provided the statement of financial condition, statement of regulatory capital, and Schedule 1 are submitted to CFTC in the English language, with balances converted to USD.
• A covered non-U.S. bank swap dealer files the statement of financial condition, statement of regulatory capital, and Schedule 1 within 15 days of the earlier of the date such financial statements are filed with its home-country regulator or the date such financial statements are required to be filed with its home country regulator. A covered non-U.S. bank swap dealer is required to file the financial statements and Schedule 1 with CFTC as of the end of each quarter, unless the covered non-U.S. bank swap dealer is only required to file such financial statements with its home-country regulator on a semi-annual basis, in which case its financial statements and Schedule 1 must be filed with CFTC on a semi-annual basis.
• A covered non-U.S. bank swap dealer that is dually registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as security-based swap dealer files a FOCUS Report Part IIC, or other SEC approved financial reports and schedules, with CFTC in lieu of its reporting obligation under Regulation 23.105(p)(2), provided that the FOCUS Report Part IIC, or other SEC-approved financial reports and schedules, are filed with CFTC on the earlier of the due date for the reports under the SEC rules, or the date the reports were filed with the SEC. The FOCUS Report Part IIC or other SEC-approved financial reports and schedules must be filed with CFTC in the English language with balances converted to USD.

Keywords: Americas, US, Banking, Reporting, Call Reports, Regulatory Capital, Basel, Swaps, Bank Swap Dealers, ISDA, CFTC