Commodity Pool Regulation for MBS Delayed by CFTC, Averting Chilling Effect on New Issuance
October 19, 2012
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission late last week issued a temporary exemption for securitization vehicles, including MBS, from burdensome rules required by the Dodd-Frank Act regarding commodity pools. The exemption from rules for swaps lasts through the end of the year and was detailed in a series of no-action letters. Industry participants including the American Securitization Forum and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association requested the no-action letter from the CFTC for rules that went into effect on Oct. 12. The groups warned that applying the new regulation to MBS with simple interest rate swaps would harm the market for new issuance as well as outstanding securities. This legal and regulatory uncertainty could have...