On May 1, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission took long-awaited action to propose rules governing cross-border activities in security-based swaps. The SEC’s proposal, developed over the course of more than two years, reflects a holistic approach that differs in key respects from that taken by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with respect to transnational swap activities (the “CFTC Proposal”). In light of the far-ranging significance of its cross-border proposal, the SEC has reopened comment periods for many of its previously proposed security- based swap regulations and its policy statement on the sequencing of compliance with these rules.

The comment period for the proposed cross-border rules ends 90 days after publication in the Federal Register. The comment period for the previously proposed rules and policy statement ends 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The memorandum (available here) provides an overview of key provisions of the SEC’s proposal, highlighting the most important differences from the CFTC Proposal. We focus on those provisions of the SEC’s proposal that address the regulation of security-based swap dealers and security-based swap end users, but we note that the SEC’s proposal also addresses the cross-border regulation of clearing agencies, security-based swap data repositories and security-based swap execution facilities.