SEC Solicits Comment on FICC-CME Cross-Margining Proposal 

The SEC requested comment to determine whether to approve or disapprove a proposed rule change by the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation ("FICC") to amend its Cross-Margining Agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. ("CME") to extend cross-margining between cash market and futures to customer accounts. Currently, these margin offsets are available only to direct joint clearing members and their eligible affiliates. The FICC stated that extending the arrangement to customer accounts would create capital efficiencies and incentivize market participants to maintain more balanced portfolios that present lower overall risk.

The SEC is seeking further input on how the proposal would impact the FICC’s ability to manage credit exposures and maintain risk-based margin systems—particularly with respect to the separate calculation and collection of margin for U.S. Treasury transactions submitted by indirect participants. The SEC also requested comment on whether the proposal adequately addresses risks arising from arrangements in which indirect participants rely on direct participants to access clearing services.

Comments on the proposed rule change are due by April 13, 2026, and rebuttal comments are due by April 27, 2026.