What to Expect in 2012: Derivatives
In the 17 months since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), implementation has progressed slowly. Financial regulators have finalized 74 of the 243 rules required by the Act and have conducted 39 of the 87 required studies.
The regulatory process is significantly behind schedule. Regulators have proposed an additional 128 rules but have failed to finalize them by their statutory deadlines. The regulators have yet to propose 26 rules that were set to be finalized by the end of 2011. Heading into 2012, regulators will have some catching up to do, though many regulators, namely Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mary Schapiro and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Gary Gensler, have repeatedly emphasized that they are more focused on “getting the rules right” than they are on meeting deadlines. Coupled with House Republicans’ ongoing attempts to stall regulations by cutting funding to regulators, the regulatory process will likely extend far longer than originally intended.
Title VII of Dodd-Frank, which deals with the regulation of the over-the-counter swaps markets, is one area to watch in 2012. Dodd-Frank brings the over-the-counter derivatives market under significant government regulation for the first time. Many types of derivatives will now have to be traded on exchanges and routed through clearinghouses, with regulators examining trades before they are cleared. Derivatives are jointly regulated by the CFTC and the SEC, and both regulators are significantly behind schedule.
Thus far, regulators have missed 71 Title VII rulemaking deadlines. The first quarter of 2012 is set to be the busiest time for regulators, with 25 new regulations due by March 30; 14 of which have yet to be proposed. There are an additional 16 new regulations due in the third quarter of 2012, as well as the 152 rulemakings that remain behind schedule. The upcoming year also calls for an additional 28 studies. The bulk of these studies (11) are to be conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), though the SEC and the bank regulators will likely see a significant burden as well, in addition to their rulemaking responsibilities.
There have been many legislative attempts to stall, scale back, defund or otherwise prevent the implementation of Title VII. Republicans, namely Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have said that “anything we can do to slow down, deter, or impede” the regulators’ agenda would be “good for our country.” While Republicans will likely continue to fight most of the regulations, many in industry view the rules as inevitable and have encouraged regulators to finalize them as soon as possible to give companies sufficient time to prepare for implementation.
Key Dates in 2012:
- January 17, 2012: The CFTC's interim final rule regarding position limits for futures and swaps required under Title VII for the Dodd-Frank Act is effective.
- April 16, 2012: Extension for rule that exempted the central counterparties from the requirement to register as clearing agencies under Section 17A of the Exchange Act 6 solely to perform the functions of a clearing agency for certain credit default swap (‘‘CDS’’) transactions. Extension expires at the earlier of a new rule or April 16, 2012.
- July 16, 2012: Temporary relief from certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) for some swaps. Expires the earlier of July 16 or the effective date of the final rules amending the CEA.
- July 21, 2012: Prohibition of federal assistance to swaps Entities; Removal of statutory references to and use of credit ratings; National bank lending limits will be revised to include any credit exposure to a person arising from a derivative transaction, a repurchase agreement, a reverse repurchase agreement, or a securities borrowing or lending transaction as extensions of credit subject to the lending limits.
