The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) and Markit announced today the launch of the ISDA Cross-Border Swaps Representation Letter on ISDA Amend, their joint electronic solution that facilitates compliance with certain Dodd-Frank regulatory requirements.
On July 26, the CFTC published an “Interpretive Guidance and Policy Statement Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations” providing guidance as to when the CFTC will assert jurisdiction over swap transactions that have a non-US element. Compliance with many provisions of the guidance, including the guidance as to the term “US person,” is required by October 9, 2013.
ISDA’s Cross-Border Swaps Representation Letter allows market participants to provide counterparties with the representations for US person status needed to determine whether compliance with various swap regulations is required by the CFTC’s Interpretive Guidance.
To assist in gathering this information in a consistent and efficient manner, ISDA and Markit made the representations found in the Cross-Border Swaps Representation Letter available via ISDA Amend. The substantive representations on ISDA Amend are identical to ISDA’s letter. Buy side firms and corporations can use ISDA Amend at no charge.
The Cross-Border Swaps Representation Letter is not a protocol and, therefore, no adherence letter is required. Additional information regarding the ISDA Cross-Border Representation Letter and ISDA Amend is available on the Dodd-Frank Documentation Initiative page. All presentations, documentation and audio playback related to Cross-Border Representations on ISDA Amend are also available here.
