Banks have been granted more time to comply with new restrictions on swaps activities by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The OCC, the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. had originally set an effective date of July 16. The Dodd-Frank Reform law, however, allows a bank's primary regulator to set a longer transition period to help banks adapt.
"Under the derivatives provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, depository institutions cannot use the federal assistance they receive - such as federal deposit insurance or access to the discount window - to support certain swaps activities. The new rules will in effect force some banks to have to stop or divest their swaps businesses," writes American Banker's Rachel Witkowski.
On Thursday, the OCC stated it "is prepared to consider favorably requests for a transition period." The OCC further detailed that transition periods are necessary for financial institutions because the new derivatives regime in Dodd-Frank is still being built.
For the full piece see "
