CFTC Implements U.S. Treasury Market Reforms

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham announced the Commission has approved a proposed order to grant a limited exemption necessary for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) and the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) to make their existing cross-margining arrangement available to certain customers with appropriate safeguards.

“The CFTC is committed to working with the SEC to implement Treasury market reforms,” Acting Chairman Pham said. “Expanding cross-margining to customers will provide capital efficiencies that can increase liquidity and resiliency in U.S. Treasuries, the most important market in the world.”

This proposed order implements a CFTC Global Markets Advisory Committee recommendation on Treasury market reform and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s U.S. Treasury clearing mandate [see CFTC press release No. 8860-24]. Currently, only clearing members may cross-margin futures positions in U.S. Treasury securities cleared at CME with cash market positions in U.S. Treasury securities cleared at FICC.

Comments on the proposal are due 30 days following publication in the Federal Register. Comments may be submitted electronically through the CFTC Comments online process. All comments received will be posted on CFTC.gov.

Source: CFTC