Shadow banking is history, say banking leaders, a thing of the past. New compliance and risk management systems based on the Securities Finance Transaction Regulation (SFTR) and the industry’s evolving Common Domain Model (CDM) will enable financial service providers to regulate their clients' exposure to counterparties with far more specificity than ever before possible. Originally accepted as a regulatory imposition, bankers are now viewing the SFTR reports of their loan principals as a platform to help state pension funds and others meet their ESG and tax compliance goals with unprecedented precision — along with proof of funding.

In a joint statement issued on February 10, the European Commission (EC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced agreement on a common approach regarding requirements for central clearing counterparties (CCPs).  The agreement is the result of a multi-year analysis of differences between the CFTC and EU regulatory requirements. The accord commits the EC and CFTC to base regulations on international rather than parochial principles, and for both the CFTC and the European Commission Services to work together, along with counterparts across the global regulatory community, to develop further these principles and further harmonize the standards to which internationally active CCPs are held.

The European Securities and Markets Authority is seeking input on its plans for mandatory central counterparty clearing of foreign exchange non-deliverable forwards (FXNDF). FXNDFs are cash-settled foreign exchange forward contracts that cannot result in physical delivery of the designated currencies at maturity. FXNDFs allow hedging of currencies where government regulations restrict foreign access to local currency or the parties wish to compensate for risk without a physical exchange of funds.