SEC issues new US Treasury clearing requests for public comment
21 April 2026 US
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published for public comment a request for exemptive relief which requests targeted modifications to the inter‑affiliate exemption contained in the Treasury Clearing Rule.
The request — submitted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) — would expand the set of affiliates eligible to rely on the inter‑affiliate exemption and introduce a tailored activity‑based threshold for certain non‑US affiliate transactions.
As stated in SIFMA’s request, many institutions depend on inter‑affiliate repo activity for internal liquidity, treasury, and collateral management — especially across time zones where covered clearing agencies do not operate on a 24‑hour basis.
These are real‑world challenges that firms face as they prepare for the upcoming compliance dates, notes the SEC.
However, the Commission highlights that the Treasury Clearing Rule aims to ensure that inter‑affiliate flows do not become a ‘backdoor’ to avoid clearing transactions that would otherwise be required to be submitted.
The SEC therefore welcomes comments on the notice and any data relevant to the potential effects of the requested relief on liquidity and competition, to help it better understand the potential effects if such relief were to be granted.
Secondly, the Commission has reopened the comment period on the requested exemptive relief submitted earlier this year by the Institute of International Bankers (IIB), which addresses the extraterritorial application of the Trade Submission Requirement.
The request concerns transactions executed entirely outside the US between non‑US institutions — market participants and foreign regulators have raised significant questions about the extraterritorial scope of the clearing mandate.
Many non‑US financial institutions operate through a mix of US and non‑US branches and affiliates, and applying the Trade Submission Requirement to transactions occurring wholly overseas can pose operational challenges, create legal uncertainty regarding enforceability of netting arrangements, and raise practical issues given time‑zone differences and the absence of 24‑hour clearing, the SEC states.
Because both SIFMA’s and IIB’s requests for relief may intersect in important ways — including competitive, operational, and structural considerations — the SEC deems it appropriate to solicit further public input.
The SEC comments: “We encourage commenters to address not only each request individually but also how the potential exemptions may, together, affect the overall environment for liquidity and competition in Treasury transactions and the core purposes of the Treasury Clearing Rule.”
The request — submitted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) — would expand the set of affiliates eligible to rely on the inter‑affiliate exemption and introduce a tailored activity‑based threshold for certain non‑US affiliate transactions.
As stated in SIFMA’s request, many institutions depend on inter‑affiliate repo activity for internal liquidity, treasury, and collateral management — especially across time zones where covered clearing agencies do not operate on a 24‑hour basis.
These are real‑world challenges that firms face as they prepare for the upcoming compliance dates, notes the SEC.
However, the Commission highlights that the Treasury Clearing Rule aims to ensure that inter‑affiliate flows do not become a ‘backdoor’ to avoid clearing transactions that would otherwise be required to be submitted.
The SEC therefore welcomes comments on the notice and any data relevant to the potential effects of the requested relief on liquidity and competition, to help it better understand the potential effects if such relief were to be granted.
Secondly, the Commission has reopened the comment period on the requested exemptive relief submitted earlier this year by the Institute of International Bankers (IIB), which addresses the extraterritorial application of the Trade Submission Requirement.
The request concerns transactions executed entirely outside the US between non‑US institutions — market participants and foreign regulators have raised significant questions about the extraterritorial scope of the clearing mandate.
Many non‑US financial institutions operate through a mix of US and non‑US branches and affiliates, and applying the Trade Submission Requirement to transactions occurring wholly overseas can pose operational challenges, create legal uncertainty regarding enforceability of netting arrangements, and raise practical issues given time‑zone differences and the absence of 24‑hour clearing, the SEC states.
Because both SIFMA’s and IIB’s requests for relief may intersect in important ways — including competitive, operational, and structural considerations — the SEC deems it appropriate to solicit further public input.
The SEC comments: “We encourage commenters to address not only each request individually but also how the potential exemptions may, together, affect the overall environment for liquidity and competition in Treasury transactions and the core purposes of the Treasury Clearing Rule.”
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