New Threshold for Phase 5 Initial Margin for Uncleared Derivatives

Initial Margin Thresholds Raised for Phase 5

04 Sep New Threshold for Phase 5 Initial Margin for Uncleared Derivatives

Posted on September 4, 2019 in Clearing & Collateral, Initial Margin for Uncleared Derivatives by McCabe Hurley

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During July 2019, In response to industry concerns about readiness, regulators assigned a new threshold for Phase 5 initial Margin for Uncleared Derivatives and added a 6^th Phase-in for Initial Margin for Uncleared Derivatives.

Phase 5 Threshold Raised, Phase 6 Added

Phase 5 threshold now covers entities with more than $50 billion in Average Aggregate Notional Amount (AANA) and will go live on September 1, 2020.
Entities with more than $8 billion in (AANA) are in Phase 6 and goes live on September 1, 2021.

The observation period for calculating AANA to determine entities in-scope for Phase 5 was completed on August 31, 2019. The observation period for Phase 6 will be March, April & May 2020.

Entities Expected in Phase 5 & 6

Phases 5 & 6 will bring roughly 700 entities in-scope to post initial margin. To frame that number, Phases 1-3 brought 20 entities into-scope and Phase 4 added 23 entities. So yeah, no matter what there is a greater administrative burden ahead.

Can you imagine if they hadn’t increased the threshold for Phase 5 and added a phase 6? Estimating the entities in Phase 5 & 6, roughly 200 entities expected to be in-scope for Phase 5 and another 500 entities will be in-scope for Phase 6.

While that gives the industry some breathing room, let’s break that number down from the Consolidated Group level.

Are Asset Managers in Phase 5 & 6?

Yes, asset managers will be the primary group in Phases 5 & 6. But let’s step back a minute and add some vernacular.

So far, we’ve used the term entity meaning the Consolidated Group. Going forward, we’ll use the term “group”.

Included in a Consolidated Group (Group) are:

Affiliates or Subsidiaries included in the same Consolidated Financial Statements
Where the parent holds 80% or more of the outstanding, voting shares.

Currently, 700 Consolidated Groups are expected to be in-scope in Phases 5 & 6. Both phases will include “buy-side” Fund Managers & Investment Advisors offering Separately Managed Accounts.

Two other terms used are relationships & segregated accounts. Let’s look at how many relationships and segregated accounts in Phases 5 & 6. From there the reader can estimate their workload over the next to years

How Many Separate Accounts?

The estimated 700 Groups include: 9,100 relationships & 17,000 segregated accounts.

Phase 5: 200 Groups, 2,600 relationships, and 4,800 segregated accounts.
Phase 6: 500 Groups, 6,500 relationships and 12,200 segregated accounts.

In buy-side terms, let’s use Fidelity as an example of a Mutual Fund:

The Consolidated Group is Fidelity Management & Research, LLC (FMR, LLC)
The relationship would be the subsidiary operating all of the mutual funds, and
The segregated accounts would be the individual mutual fund (i.e., Fidelity Convertible Bond Fund).

Staying with Fidelity, let’s breakdown these terms for an Asset Manager:

The Consolidated Group would be FMR, LLC,
The relationship would be Fidelity Strategic Disciplines
The segregated account would be Fidelity Equity-Income Strategy

Entities with less than $8 billion AANA, will not need to comply with Uncleared Margin Requirements (UMR).

This decision is due to the Minimum Transfer Amount (MTA) of $50 million.
Entities with less than $8 billion AANA was unlikely to breach the $50 million MTA

The Average Aggregate Notional Amount (AANA)

AANA includes outstanding uncleared derivatives of the Consolidated Group. AANA is calculated using the daily gross notional amounts outstanding. An average is calculated from the daily amounts during the observation period.

Products in the ANNA?

Outstanding uncleared derivatives of the Consolidated Group
Uncleared Interest Rate & Cross Currency Swaps
Credit Default Swaps
Uncleared Security-Based Swaps (SBS)
- Security-Based Swaps are or swaps based on a stock, bond or other security.
Deliverable FX forwards & FX swaps
- B.: FX swaps and deliverable FX forwards although included in calculating AANA, are exempt from regulatory capital calculation.

Products not in the AANA?

Outstanding derivatives cleared at a CCP
Listed derivatives (cleared)

For more information regarding calculation of AANA, please see Blog “Calculating AANA for Phase 5 or visit ISDA for their resources on AANA.

Summary & Conclusion

There will be new challenges with Phases 5^th 6^th. 43 Entities are now posting initial margin. Phase 5 expects 200 entities to be in-scope to post initial margin or 4 times the amount of phases 1-4.

Read our blog on the Challenges of Phase 5 Initial Margin for Uncleared Derivatives. Determine whether you can meet the challenges of posting initial margin or whether your firm would be better off clearing through a CCP.