On May 24, the OCC, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish a revised framework for determining capital and liquidity requirements for large foreign banking organizations. Comments on the proposal must be submitted by June 21. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
On April 1, 2016, the Federal Reserve Board finalized a rule to include certain U.S. general obligation state and municipal securities in the type of assets that financial institutions may use to satisfy requirements designed to ensure that such institutions have the capacity to meet liquidity needs during a period of financial stress. The final rule allows investment-grade, U.S. general obligation state and municipal securities to be counted as high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) up to certain levels if such securities meet the same liquidity criteria that apply currently to corporate debt securities. Release. Final Rule.
On December 5, the CFTC adopted amendments to Regulation 1.25 and Regulation 30.7, which govern the investment of customer and secured amount funds by derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs) and futures commission merchants (FCMs). The amendments address: (i) changes to the list of permitted investments, including the elimination of foreign sovereign debt and in-house transactions; (ii) a clarification of the liquidity requirement; (iii) the removal of rating requirements; and (iv) an expansion of concentration limits including asset-based, issuer-based, and counterparty concentration restrictions. The rule will be effective 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. CFTC Q&A. CFTC Final Rules.
