21 financial organisations requested on an extension of the compliance dates Thursday 26 March for initial margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives to take into account the challenges faced by companies in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), these organisations – including the European Banking Federation, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, the Institute of International Finance and Insurance Europe – indicate that their compliance efforts are “severely affected” by the pandemic and that it is therefore not “possible” for them to meet these requirements by the dates originally set.
They therefore call on the BCBS and IOSCO to issue an “immediate recommendation” for global regulators to suspend the compliance dates for initial margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives for Phase 5, 1 September 2020, and Phase 6, 1 September 2021.
“As the overall impact of COVID-19 may not be known for some time, we suggest that decisions regarding a new timeline for the implementation of further phases of the IM requirements be delayed and reconsidered when relevant facts and circumstances are known”, they say.
See the letter: https://bit.ly/3dA13ls (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)