On March 3, International Financing Review (IFR) reported that guidance offered by U.S. prudential regulators including the Federal Reserve Board (Federal Reserve) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) days before the March 1 deadline for uncleared swaps margin offered relief to swap market participants by effectively extending the deadline by six months for transactions with certain counterparties. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority and the Central Bank of Ireland provided similar relief. Despite this, reported IFR, questions still remain due to some ambiguities in the guidance.
The article includes extensive quotes from hedge funds counsel Anna Lawry (London) and Molly Moore (Washington, D.C.). “For the most part the guidance has been helpful and dealers have been willing to be flexible,” said Ms. Moore in the piece. “There was some disruption in Europe; clients expected banks would have signed documents and be ready from March 1, but that wasn't always the case,” added Ms. Lawry.
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