The NAPF issued its comments in response to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision ("BCBS") and the International Organization of Securities Commissions' ("IOSCO") requests for comment as to the amount and handling of margin to be posted as part of OTC derivatives trades. The key points asserted by NAPF are as follows: Pension schemes use derivatives largely to hedge liabilities and, thereby, reduce risk. Extra costs or processes that provide a disincentive for pension schemes to use derivatives could in fact increase the degree of risk in the markets. The new margin requirements would

The MFA released the latest edition of its monthly newsletter, MFA Policy Brief. The following items of regulatory interest are included: The MFA's comment letter to the SEC on proposed capital, margin and segregation rules. An update on developments surrounding financial transaction tax proposals in the European Union and the U.S. An MFA piece regarding key provisions in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups ("JOBS") Act designed to remove the general solicitation ban covering private offerings. MFA President and CEO Richard H. Baker's comments on Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA")

SIFMA released the following statement from acting president and CEO, Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., regarding passage of several pieces of legislation by the House Agriculture Committee which aimed at amending, clarifying or improving Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act. "These bills will strike the so-called 'swap push-out provision,' which a number of regulators have said was unnecessary as well as clarify that non-financial end users will be exempt from capital and margin requirements. They will also clarify the treatment of inter-affiliate swaps, address extra-territorial application of derivatives

FINRA's first podcast in a three-part series on its 2013 regulatory and examination priorities focuses on the suitability of complex products. According to FINRA, due to low yields in fixed-income products, brokers and customers alike have been looking for higher yields through complex products. FINRA's concern is that brokers may not fully understand these products and, thus, fail to communicate adequately such products' risks and returns to customers. The podcast notes that examiners will place greater scrutiny on recommendations of the following products: business development companies

The CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk issued a no-action letter that provides relief from required clearing for a limited set of swaps ("stub swaps") that remain after the partial novation or partial termination of an original swap that was not required to be cleared because it was executed prior to an applicable compliance date for required clearing. The no-action relief is subject to, among others, the following conditions: the original swap must not have been cleared; the original swap was executed prior to an applicable compliance date for required clearing; the partial novation or