SEC permits customer cross-margining in US Treasury market
16 April 2026 US
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a conditional exemptive order that permits customer cross-margining of cash market positions in US Treasury securities cleared by a registered clearing agency.
It also applies to futures positions in US Treasury securities cleared by a registered derivatives clearing organisation.
The order provides for an exemption from the broker-dealer customer protection rule for a broker-dealer that is dually-registered as a futures commission merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and is a joint clearing member of the clearing agency and derivatives clearing organisation.
It will permit the broker-dealer to make cross-margining available to certain customers in a futures account provided the conditions of the order are met.
In addition, the SEC approved a proposed rule change filed by the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) pursuant to which it would enter into a proposed Third Amended and Restated Cross-Margining Agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
It will incorporate that agreement into the FICC Government Securities Division rules, along with related rule changes.
The agreement would extend the availability of cross-margining to positions cleared and carried for customers by a dually-registered broker-dealer and FCM that is a common member of FICC and CME.
Previously, only clearing members could cross-margin futures positions in US Treasury securities cleared at CME with cash market positions in US Treasury securities cleared at FICC.
“[The] issuance of orders completes another step in the implementation of Treasury clearing,” says SEC Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, who has been leading the SEC’s efforts in this area. “It advances the goal of both the SEC and the CFTC to unlock additional liquidity and helps ensure the market for US Treasury securities remains resilient.”
The exemptive order and order approving the proposed rule change will be available on SEC.gov before publication in the Federal Register, and a related CFTC exemptive order will be available on CFTC.gov and also in the Federal Register.
It also applies to futures positions in US Treasury securities cleared by a registered derivatives clearing organisation.
The order provides for an exemption from the broker-dealer customer protection rule for a broker-dealer that is dually-registered as a futures commission merchant (FCM) with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and is a joint clearing member of the clearing agency and derivatives clearing organisation.
It will permit the broker-dealer to make cross-margining available to certain customers in a futures account provided the conditions of the order are met.
In addition, the SEC approved a proposed rule change filed by the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) pursuant to which it would enter into a proposed Third Amended and Restated Cross-Margining Agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
It will incorporate that agreement into the FICC Government Securities Division rules, along with related rule changes.
The agreement would extend the availability of cross-margining to positions cleared and carried for customers by a dually-registered broker-dealer and FCM that is a common member of FICC and CME.
Previously, only clearing members could cross-margin futures positions in US Treasury securities cleared at CME with cash market positions in US Treasury securities cleared at FICC.
“[The] issuance of orders completes another step in the implementation of Treasury clearing,” says SEC Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, who has been leading the SEC’s efforts in this area. “It advances the goal of both the SEC and the CFTC to unlock additional liquidity and helps ensure the market for US Treasury securities remains resilient.”
The exemptive order and order approving the proposed rule change will be available on SEC.gov before publication in the Federal Register, and a related CFTC exemptive order will be available on CFTC.gov and also in the Federal Register.
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