US Treasury Counselor to the Secretary Craig Phillips Discusses Regulatory Reform

U.S. Treasury Counselor to the Secretary, Craig Phillips, spoke at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s 33rd annual general meeting regarding regulatory policies of relevance to ISDA members.  Mr. Phillips expressed Treasury’s support for the recent white paper released by U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo.  Mr. Phillips also discussed the reports that have been released by Treasury with respect to the Core Principles identified in President Trump’s Executive Order 13772, noting that Treasury is currently working on finalizing its report with respect to non-bank financial companies, financial technology and innovation, which he noted will be released in the near future.  Mr. Phillips summarized a number of key recommendations from each report that has been released, and specifically noted several recommendations with respect to better calibration of post-crisis OTC derivative reforms and further regulation regarding the oversight and resolution process for central counterparty clearinghouses.  Mr. Phillips was critical of proposals issued by the European Commission and European Central Bank with respect to EU and non-EU CCPs, noting that the proposals include redundant and unnecessary recognition requirements, increase costs for firms and may fragment global markets.  Finally, Mr. Phillips discussed LIBOR and work by the U.S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System’s Alternative Reference Rates Committee to promote LIBOR alternatives, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, which is now being published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

View full text of Mr. Phillips’s remarks.