§ 23.504 - Swap trading relationship documentation.

§ 23.504 Swap trading relationship documentation.

(a)

(1) Applicability. The requirements of this section shall not apply to:

(i) Swaps executed prior to the date on which a swap dealer or major swap participant is required to be in compliance with this section;

(ii) Swaps executed on a board of trade designated as a contract market under section 5 of the Act or to swaps executed anonymously on a swap execution facility under section 5h of the Act, provided that such swaps are cleared by a derivatives clearing organization and all terms of the swaps conform to the rules of the derivatives clearing organization and § 39.12(b)(6) of this chapter; and

(iii) Swaps cleared by a derivatives clearing organization.

(2) Policies and procedures. Each swap dealer and major swap participant shall establish, maintain, and follow written policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the swap dealer or major swap participant executes written swap trading relationship documentation with its counterparty that complies with the requirements of this section. The policies and procedures shall be approved in writing by senior management of the swap dealer and major swap participant, and a record of the approval shall be retained. Other than confirmations of swap transactions under § 23.501, the swap trading relationship documentation shall be executed prior to or contemporaneously with entering into a swap transaction with any counterparty.

(b) Swap trading relationship documentation.

(1) The swap trading relationship documentation shall be in writing and shall include all terms governing the trading relationship between the swap dealer or major swap participant and its counterparty, including, without limitation, terms addressing payment obligations, netting of payments, events of default or other termination events, calculation and netting of obligations upon termination, transfer of rights and obligations, governing law, valuation, and dispute resolution.

(2) The swap trading relationship documentation shall include all confirmations of swap transactions under § 23.501.

(3) The swap trading relationship documentation shall include credit support arrangements, which shall contain, in accordance with applicable requirements under Commission regulations or regulations adopted by prudential regulators and without limitation, the following:

(i) Initial and variation margin requirements, if any;

(ii) Types of assets that may be used as margin and asset valuation haircuts, if any;

(iii) Investment and rehypothecation terms for assets used as margin for uncleared swaps, if any; and

(iv) Custodial arrangements for margin assets, including whether margin assets are to be segregated with an independent third party, in accordance with § 23.701(e), if any.

(4)

(i) The swap trading relationship documentation between swap dealers, between major swap participants, between a swap dealer and major swap participant, between a swap dealer or major swap participant and a financial entity, and, if requested by any other counterparty, between a swap dealer or major swap participant and such counterparty, shall include written documentation in which the parties agree on the process, which may include any agreed upon methods, procedures, rules, and inputs, for determining the value of each swap at any time from execution to the termination, maturity, or expiration of such swap for the purposes of complying with the margin requirements under section 4s(e) of the Act and regulations under this part, and the risk management requirements under section 4s(j) of the Act and regulations under this part. To the maximum extent practicable, the valuation of each swap shall be based on recently-executed transactions, valuations provided by independent third parties, or other objective criteria.

(ii) Such documentation shall include either:

(A) Alternative methods for determining the value of the swap for the purposes of complying with this paragraph in the event of the unavailability or other failure of any input required to value the swap for such purposes; or

(B) A valuation dispute resolution process by which the value of the swap shall be determined for the purposes of complying with this paragraph (b)(4).

(iii) A swap dealer or major swap participant is not required to disclose to the counterparty confidential, proprietary information about any model it may use to value a swap.

(iv) The parties may agree on changes or procedures for modifying or amending the documentation required by this paragraph at any time.

(5) The swap trading relationship documentation of a swap dealer or major swap participant shall include the following:

(i) A statement of whether the swap dealer or major swap participant is an insured depository institution (as defined in 12 U.S.C. 1813) or a financial company (as defined in section 201(a)(11) of the Dodd-Frank Act, 12 U.S.C. 5381(a)(11));

(ii) A statement of whether the counterparty is an insured depository institution or financial company;

(iii) A statement that in the event either the swap dealer or major swap participant or its counterparty is a covered financial company (as defined in section 201(a)(8) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. 5381(a)(8)) or an insured depository institution for which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has been appointed as a receiver (the “covered party”), certain limitations under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act or the Federal Deposit Insurance Act may apply to the right of the non-covered party to terminate, liquidate, or net any swap by reason of the appointment of the FDIC as receiver, notwithstanding the agreement of the parties in the swap trading relationship documentation, and that the FDIC may have certain rights to transfer swaps of the covered party under section 210(c)(9)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. 5390(c)(9)(A), or 12 U.S.C. 1821(e)(9)(A); and

(iv) An agreement between the swap dealer or major swap participant and its counterparty to provide notice if either it or its counterparty becomes or ceases to be an insured depository institution or a financial company.

(6) The swap trading relationship documentation of each swap dealer and major swap participant shall contain a notice that, upon acceptance of a swap by a derivatives clearing organization:

(i) The original swap is extinguished;

(ii) The original swap is replaced by equal and opposite swaps with the derivatives clearing organization; and

(iii) All terms of the swap shall conform to the product specifications of the cleared swap established under the derivatives clearing organization's rules.

(c) Audit of swap trading relationship documentation. Each swap dealer and major swap participant shall have an independent internal or external auditor conduct periodic audits sufficient to identify any material weakness in its documentation policies and procedures required by this section and Commission regulations. A record of the results of each audit shall be retained.

(d) Recordkeeping. Each swap dealer and major swap participant shall maintain all documents required to be created pursuant to this section in accordance with § 23.203 and shall make them available promptly upon request to any representative of the Commission or any applicable prudential regulator, or with regard to swaps defined in section 1a(47)(A)(v) of the Act, to any representative of the Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or any applicable prudential regulator.

[77 FR 55960, Sept. 11, 2012]