Key takeaways

• On February 23, 2017, the Federal Reserve Board (the “FRB”) and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) issued guidance on how banking supervisors should examine swap dealers for compliance with variation margin requirements.
• The guidance explains that the variation margin compliance is expected as of March 1, 2017, with respect to the swap dealers and financial end users that present significant exposures.
• However, with respect to other counterparties, the guidance explains that the examiners should focus instead on the swap dealers’ good faith efforts to comply with the requirements as soon as possible, and in no case later than September 1, 2017.