Securities regulators are proposing changes to futures margin requirements, in order to reflect recent changes in futures markets, and to make the rules easier to understand.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada is proposing amendments to its requirements for dealers to provide margin on commodity and commodity futures positions and related deposits with correspondent brokers to cover possible commodity concentration risk and related counterparty risk. IIROC says that the primary objective of the proposed amendments is to re-organize and re-write the requirements into a simpler and more logical format, making them easier to read and interpret.

It also aims to accommodate changes in the futures markets over the past several years, including: the emergence of futures contracts on asset classes beyond commodities (e.g. financial futures contracts); the fact that there are more risk reduction offset strategies that are recognized by the futures exchanges; and, more timely publication of futures contracts margin requirements by the futures exchanges.

The proposed amendments aim to clarify that the requirements cover both commodities and financial futures; stipulate the additional risk reduction offset strategies that can be excluded from the margin calculations; and, clarify that futures contracts, whose maintenance margin requirements are published daily by the futures exchange, may be excluded from the general margin calculation.

IIROC says that the proposed amendments will result in a more comprehensive set of margin requirements that will cover futures contracts on other asset classes; a more logically organized set of margin requirements; and, a set of margin requirements that are more reflective of current industry practices.
Additionally, IIROC notes that the recent insolvency of MF Global Canada Co. “has raised the issue of whether dealing with a broker that maintains a certain capital level is alone sufficient when dealing with foreign correspondent brokers.”

While these proposed amendments are largely technical, IIROC says that the broader regulatory policy issue of foreign correspondent broker minimum capital levels will be reviewed separately to determine if further rule amendments are necessary.

Comments on the proposed amendments are due in 60 days.