Proposed Swaps Margin Requirements Would Boost Risk, ISDA Argues

Global regulators have recommended requiring initial and variation margin on derivatives trades from all financial institutions and systemically important non-financial firms, while exempting other non-financial end users. The rules are still in the works and there is concern they may vary from U.S. regulations, presenting global companies with two sets of initial margin requirements.

The ISDA study does not directly address the impact of proposed margin requirements on end users, whose trades make up 10% or less of the over-the-counter derivatives market. However, it calculates that the largest global banks would each have to pony up between $23 billion and $49 billion of initial margin on average, money that would be unavailable for other purposes.