Statement of Concurrence of CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam Regarding Segregation of Assets Held as Collateral in Uncleared Swap Transactions; Amendments

I respectfully concur with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (the Commission or CFTC) approval of its proposed rule (Proposal) regarding amendments to subpart L of the Commission’s Regulations (Segregation of Assets Held as Collateral in Uncleared Swap Transactions” consisting of Regulations 23.700 through 23.704), which implement Section 4s(l) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA or the Act).  While I have strong reservations about the Commission’s proposed interpretation of CEA Section 4s(l) and its slash and burn approach to “simplify” requirements for swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs) absent meaningful consideration of the impact on swap counterparties, I am hopeful that the Proposal’s solicitation of comments on these key points will produce a balanced record from which to adopt a final rule that more precisely simplifies the current requirements and provides tailored regulatory relief...