Regulations last checked for updates: Jun 01, 2024

Title 17 - Commodity and Securities Exchanges last revised: May 23, 2024
§ 190.11 - Scope and purpose of this subpart.

(a) This subpart applies to a proceeding commenced under subchapter IV of chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code in which the debtor is a clearing organization.

(b) If the debtor clearing organization is organized outside the United States, and is subject to a foreign proceeding, as defined in 11 U.S.C. 101(23), in the jurisdiction in which it is organized, then only the following provisions of this part shall apply:

(1) Subpart A.

(2) Section 190.12.

(3) Section 190.13, but only with respect to futures contracts and cleared swaps contracts cleared by FCM clearing members on behalf of their public customers and the property margining or securing such contracts.

(4) Sections 190.17 and 190.18, but only with respect to claims of FCM clearing members on behalf of their public customers, as well as to property that is or should have been segregated for the benefit of FCM clearing members' public customers, or that has been recovered for the benefit of FCM clearing members' public customers.

§ 190.12 - Required reports and records.

(a) Notices—(1) Means of providing—(i) To the Commission. Unless instructed otherwise by the Commission, all mandatory or discretionary notices to be given to the Commission under this subpart shall be directed by electronic mail to [email protected]. For purposes of this subpart, notice to the Commission shall be deemed to be given only upon actual receipt.

(ii) To members. The trustee, after consultation with the Commission, and unless otherwise instructed by the Commission, will establish and follow procedures reasonably designed for giving adequate notice to members under this subpart and for receiving claims or other notices from members. Such procedures should include, absent good cause otherwise, the use of a prominent website as well as communication to members' electronic addresses that are available in the debtor's books and records.

(2) Of commencement of a proceeding. A debtor that files a petition in bankruptcy that is subject to this subpart shall, at or before the time of such filing, and a debtor against which such a petition is filed shall, as soon as possible, but in any event no later than three hours after the receipt of notice of such filing, notify the Commission of the filing date, the court in which the proceeding has been or will be filed, and, as soon as available, the docket number assigned to that proceeding by the court.

(b) Reports and records to be provided to the trustee and the Commission within three hours. (1) As soon as practicable following the commencement of a proceeding that is subject to this subpart and in any event no later than three hours following the later of the commencement of such proceeding or the appointment of the trustee, the debtor shall provide to the trustee copies of each of the most recent reports that the debtor was required to file with the Commission under § 39.19(c) of this chapter, including copies of any reports required under § 39.19(c)(2), (3), and (4) of this chapter (including the most up-to-date version of any recovery and wind-down plans of the debtor maintained pursuant to § 39.39(b) of this chapter) that the debtor filed with the Commission during the preceding 12 months.

(2) As soon as practicable following the commencement of a proceeding that is subject to this subpart and in any event no later than three hours following the commencement of such proceeding (or, with respect to the trustee, the appointment of the trustee), the debtor shall provide to the trustee and the Commission copies of the most up-to-date versions of the default management plan and default rules and procedures maintained by the debtor pursuant to § 39.16 and, as applicable, § 39.35 of this chapter.

(c) Records to be provided to the trustee and the Commission by the next business day. As soon as practicable following commencement of a proceeding that is subject to this subpart and in any event no later than the next business day, the debtor shall make available to the trustee and the Commission copies of the following records:

(1) All records maintained by the debtor described in § 39.20(a) of this chapter; and

(2) Any opinions of counsel or other legal memoranda provided to the debtor (whether by external or internal counsel) in the five years preceding the commencement of such proceeding relating to the enforceability of the rules and procedures of the debtor in the event of an insolvency proceeding involving the debtor.

§ 190.13 - Prohibition on avoidance of transfers.

The following transfers are approved and may not be avoided under sections 544, 546, 547, 548, 549, or 724(a) of the Bankruptcy Code:

(a) Pre-relief transfers. Any transfer of open commodity contracts and the property margining or securing such contracts made to another clearing organization that was approved by the Commission, either before or after such transfer, and was made prior to entry of the order for relief; and

(b) Post-relief transfers. Any transfers of open commodity contracts and the property margining or securing such contracts made to another clearing organization on or before the seventh calendar day after the entry of the order for relief, that was made with the approval of the Commission, either before or after such transfer.

§ 190.14 - Operation of the estate of the debtor subsequent to the filing date.

(a) Proofs of claim. The trustee may, in its discretion based upon the facts and circumstances of the case, instruct each customer to file a proof of claim containing such information as is deemed appropriate by the trustee, and seek a court order establishing a bar date for the filing of such proofs of claim.

(b) Operation of the derivatives clearing organization. Subsequent to the order for relief, the derivatives clearing organization shall cease making calls for variation settlement or initial margin.

(c) Liquidation. (1) The trustee shall liquidate all open commodity contracts that have not been terminated, liquidated, or transferred no later than seven calendar days after entry of the order for relief. Such liquidation of open commodity contracts shall be conducted in accordance with the rules and procedures of the debtor, to the extent applicable and practicable.

(2) In lieu of liquidating securities held by the debtor and making distributions in the form of cash, the trustee may, in its reasonable discretion, make distributions in the form of securities that are equivalent (i.e., securities of the same class and series of an issuer) to the securities originally delivered to the debtor by a clearing member or such clearing member's customer.

(d) Computation of funded balance. The trustee shall use reasonable efforts to compute a funded balance for each customer account immediately prior to any distribution of property within the account, which shall be as accurate as reasonably practicable under the circumstances, including the reliability and availability of information.

§ 190.15 - Recovery and wind-down plans; default rules and procedures.

(a) Prohibition on avoidance of actions taken pursuant to recovery and wind-down plans. Subject to the provisions of section 766 of the Bankruptcy Code and §§ 190.13 and 190.18, the trustee shall not avoid or prohibit any action taken by a debtor subject to this subpart that was reasonably within the scope of and was provided for in any recovery and wind-down plans maintained by the debtor and filed with the Commission pursuant to § 39.39 of this chapter.

(b) Implementation of debtor's default rules and procedures. In administering a proceeding under this subpart, the trustee shall implement, in consultation with the Commission, the default rules and procedures maintained by the debtor under § 39.16 and, as applicable, § 39.35 of this chapter and any termination, close-out and liquidation provisions included in the rules of the debtor, subject to the reasonable discretion of the trustee and to the extent that implementation of such default rules and procedures is practicable.

(c) Implementation of recovery and wind-down plans. In administering a proceeding under this subpart, the trustee shall, in consultation with the Commission, take actions in accordance with any recovery and wind-down plans maintained by the debtor and filed with the Commission pursuant to § 39.39 of this chapter, to the extent reasonable and practicable, and consistent with the protection of customers.

§ 190.16 - Delivery.

(a) General. In the event that a commodity contract, cleared by the derivatives clearing organization, that settles upon expiration or exercise by making or taking delivery of physical delivery property, has moved into delivery position prior to the date and time of the order for relief, or moves into delivery position after that date and time, but before being terminated, liquidated, or transferred, then, in either such event, the trustee must use reasonable efforts to facilitate and cooperate with the completion of delivery on behalf of the clearing member or the clearing member's customer in a manner consistent with § 190.06(a) and the pro rata distribution principle addressed in § 190.00(c)(5).

(b) Special provisions for delivery accounts. (1) Consistent with the separation of the physical delivery property account class and the cash delivery account class set forth in § 190.06(b), the trustee shall treat—

(i) Physical delivery property held in delivery accounts as of the filing date, along with the proceeds from any subsequent sale of such physical delivery property in accordance with § 190.06(a)(3) to fulfill a clearing member's or its customer's delivery obligation or any other subsequent sale of such property, as part of the physical delivery account class; and

(ii) Cash delivery property in delivery accounts as of the filing date, along with any physical delivery property for which delivery is subsequently taken on behalf of a clearing member or its customer in accordance with § 190.06(a)(3), as part of the separate cash delivery account class.

(2) If the debtor holds any cash or property in the form of cash equivalents in an account with a bank or other person under a name or in a manner that clearly indicates that the account holds property for the purpose of making payment for taking physical delivery, or receiving payment for making physical delivery, of a commodity under any commodity contracts, such property shall (subject to § 190.19) be considered customer property in the cash delivery account class if held for making payment for taking delivery, or in the physical delivery account class, if held for the purpose of receiving such payment.

§ 190.17 - Calculation of net equity.

(a) Net equity-separate capacities and calculations. (1) If a member of the clearing organization clears trades in commodity contracts through a commodity contract account carried by the debtor as a customer account for the benefit of the clearing member's public customers and separately through a house account, the clearing member shall be treated as having customer claims against the debtor in separate capacities with respect to the customer account and house account at the clearing organization, and by account class. A member shall be treated as part of the public customer class with respect to claims based on any commodity customer accounts carried as “customer accounts” by the clearing organization for the benefit of the member's public customers, and as part of the non-public customer class with respect to claims based on its house account.

(2) Net equity shall be calculated separately for each separate customer capacity in which the clearing member has a claim against the debtor, i.e., separately by the member's customer account and house account and by account class.

(b) Net equity—application of debtor's loss allocation rules and procedures. (1)(i) The calculation of a clearing member's net equity claim shall include the full application of the debtor's loss allocation rules and procedures, including the default rules and procedures referred to in § 39.16 and, if applicable, § 39.35 of this chapter.

(ii) The calculation in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section will include, with respect to the clearing member's house account, any assessments or similar loss allocation arrangements provided for under those rules and procedures that were not called for before the filing date, or, if called for, have not been paid. Such loss allocation arrangements shall be applied to the extent necessary to address losses arising from default by clearing members.

(2) Appropriate adjustments shall be made to the net equity claims of the clearing members that are so entitled under the following circumstances: Where the debtor's loss allocation rules and procedures would entitle clearing members to additional payments of cash or other property due to—

(i) Portions of mutualized default resources that are prefunded, or assessed and collected, but in either event not used; or

(ii) The debtor's recoveries on claims against others (including, but not limited to, recoveries on claims against clearing members who have defaulted on their obligations to the debtor).

(c) Net equity—general. Subject to paragraph (b) of this section, net equity shall be calculated in the manner provided in § 190.08, to the extent applicable.

(d) Calculation of funded balance. Funded balance means a clearing member's pro rata share of customer property other than member property (for accounts for a clearing member's customer accounts) or member property (for a clearing member's house accounts) with respect to each account class available for distribution to customers of the same customer class, calculated in the manner provided in § 190.08(c) to the extent applicable.

§ 190.18 - Treatment of property.

(a) General. The property of the debtor's estate must be allocated between member property and customer property other than member property as provided in this section to satisfy claims of clearing members, as customers of the debtor. The property so allocated will constitute a separate estate of the customer class (i.e., member property, and customer property other than member property) and the account class to which it is allocated, and will be designated by reference to such customer class and account class.

(b) Scope of customer property. Customer property is the property available for distribution within the relevant account class in respect of claims by clearing members, as customers of the clearing organization, based on customer accounts carried by the debtor for the benefit of such members' public customers or, considered separately, such members' house accounts.

(1) Customer property includes the following:

(i) All cash, securities, or other property, or the proceeds of such cash, securities, or other property, that is received, acquired, or held by or for the account of the debtor, from or for any commodity contract account of a clearing member carried by the debtor, which is:

(A) Property received, acquired, or held, in order to margin, guarantee, secure, purchase, or sell a commodity contract;

(B) Open commodity contracts;

(C) Physical delivery property as that term is defined in paragraphs (1) through (3) of the definition of that term in § 190.01;

(D) Cash, securities or other property received by the debtor as payment for a commodity to be delivered to fulfill a commodity contract from or for the commodity customer account of a clearing member or a customer of a clearing member;

(E) Profits or contractual rights accruing as a result of a commodity contract;

(F) Letters of credit, including any proceeds of a letter of credit drawn upon by the trustee, or substitute customer property posted by a clearing member or a customer of a clearing member, pursuant to § 190.04(d)(3); or

(G) Securities held in a portfolio margining account carried as a futures account or a cleared swaps customer account;

(ii) All cash, securities, or other property which:

(A) Is segregated by the debtor on the filing date for the benefit of clearing members' house accounts or clearing members' public customer accounts;

(B) Was of a type described in paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A) of this section that is subsequently recovered by the avoidance powers of the trustee or is otherwise recovered by the trustee on any other claim or basis;

(C) Represents a recovery of any debit balance, margin deficit or other claim of the debtor against any commodity contract account carried for the benefit of a member's house accounts or a member's public customer accounts;

(D) Was unlawfully converted but is part of the debtor's estate; or

(E) Was of a type described in paragraphs (a)(1)(ii)(H) through (K) of § 190.09 (as if the term debtor used therein refers to a clearing organization as debtor);

(iii) Any guaranty fund deposit, assessment, or similar payment or deposit made by a clearing member, or recovered by the trustee, to the extent any remains following administration of the debtor's default rules and procedures, and any other property of a member available under the debtor's rules and procedures to satisfy claims made by or on behalf of public customers of a member; and

(iv) Amounts of its own funds that the debtor had committed as part of its loss allocation rules, to the extent that such amounts have not already been applied under such rules.

(2) Customer property will not include property of the type described in § 190.09(a)(2), as if the term debtor used therein refers to a clearing organization and to the extent relevant to a clearing organization.

(c) Allocation of customer property between customer classes. (1) Where the funded balance for members' house accounts is greater than one hundred percent with respect to any account class:

(i) Any excess should be allocated to customer property other than member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' public customers in any account class; and

(ii) Any remaining excess after the application of paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section should be allocated to member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' house accounts in any other account class.

(2) Where the funded balance for members' public customers in any account class is greater than one hundred percent:

(i) Any excess should be allocated to customer property other than member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' public customers in any other account class; and

(ii) Any remaining excess after the application of paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section should be allocated to member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' house accounts in any account class.

(d) Allocation of customer property among account classes—(1) Segregated property. Subject to paragraph (b) of this section, property held by or for the account of a customer, which is segregated on behalf of a specific account class within a customer class, or readily traceable on the filing date to customers of such account class within a customer class, or recovered by the trustee on behalf of or for the benefit of an account class within a customer class, must be allocated to the customer estate of the account class for which it is segregated, to which it is readily traceable, or for which it is recovered.

(2) All other property. Customer property which cannot be allocated in accordance with paragraph (d)(1) of this section, shall be allocated within customer classes, but between account classes, in the following order:

(i) To the estate of the account class for which the percentage of each members' net equity claim which is funded is the lowest, until the funded percentage of net equity claims of such account class equals the percentage of each members' net equity claim which is funded for the account class with the next lowest percentage of the funded claims; and then

(ii) To the estate of the two account classes so that the percentage of the net equity claims which are funded for each such account class remains equal until the percentage of each net equity claim which is funded equals the percentage of each net equity claim which is funded for the account class with the next lowest percentage of funded claims, and so forth, until all account classes within the customer class are fully funded.

(e) Accounts without separation by account class. Where the debtor has, prior to the order for relief, kept initial margin for house accounts in accounts without separation by account class, then member property will be considered to be in a single account class.

(f) Assertion of claims by trustee. Nothing in this section, including, but not limited to, the satisfaction of customer claims by operation of this section, shall prevent a trustee from asserting claims against any person to recover the shortfall of property enumerated in paragraphs (b)(1)(i)(E) and (b)(1)(ii) and (iii) of this section.

§ 190.19 - Support of daily settlement.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, funds received (whether from clearing members' house or customer accounts) by a debtor clearing organization as part of the daily settlement required pursuant to § 39.14 of this chapter shall, upon and after an order for relief, be included as customer property that is reserved for and traceable to, and promptly shall be distributed to, members entitled to payments of such funds with respect to such members' house and customer accounts as part of that same daily settlement. Such funds when received, other than deposits of initial margin described in § 39.14(a)(1)(iii) of this chapter, shall be considered member property and, separately, customer property other than member property, in proportion to the ratio of total gains in member accounts with net gains, and total gains in clearing members' customer accounts with net gains, respectively. Deposits of initial margin described in § 39.14(a)(1)(iii) of this chapter shall be considered member property and, separately, customer property other than member property, to the extent deposited on behalf of, respectively, clearing members' house accounts and customer accounts.

(b) To the extent there is a shortfall in funds received pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section:

(1) Such funds shall be supplemented with the property described in paragraphs (b)(1)(i) through (iv) of this section, as applicable, to the extent necessary to meet the shortfall, in accordance with the derivatives clearing organization's default rules and procedures adopted pursuant to § 39.16 and, as applicable, § 39.35 of this chapter, and (with respect to paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section) any recovery and wind-down plans maintained pursuant to § 39.39 of this chapter and submitted pursuant to § 39.19 of this chapter. Such funds shall be included as member property and customer property other than member property in the proportion described in paragraph (a) of this section, and shall be distributed promptly to members' house accounts and members' customer accounts which accounts are entitled to payment of such funds as part of that daily settlement.

(i) Initial margin held for the account of a member, including initial margin segregated for the customers of such member, that has defaulted on payments required pursuant to a daily settlement, but only to the extent that such margin is permitted to be used pursuant to parts 1, 22, and 30 of this chapter.

(ii) Assets of the debtor, to the extent dedicated to such use as part of the debtor's default rules and procedures, and any recovery and wind-down plans, described in this paragraph (b)(1).

(iii) Prefunded guarantee or default funds maintained pursuant to the debtor's default rules and procedures.

(iv) Payments made by members pursuant to assessment powers maintained pursuant to the debtor's default rules and procedures.

(2) If the funds that are included as customer property pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, supplemented as described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, are insufficient to pay in full members entitled to payment of such funds as part of daily settlement, then such funds shall be distributed pro rata to such members' house accounts and customer accounts in proportion to the ratio of total gains in member accounts with net gains, and total gains in customer accounts with net gains, respectively.

Appendix Appendix A - Appendix A to Part 190—Customer Proof of Claim Form
Appendix Appendix B - Appendix B to Part 190—Special Bankruptcy Distributions
Framework 1—Special Distribution of Customer Funds When the Cross-Margining Account Is a Futures Account

(a) This framework 1 applies when a debtor futures commission merchant has participated in a cross-margining (“XM”) program for futures and securities under which the cross-margined positions of its futures customers (as defined in § 1.3 of this chapter) and the property received to margin, secure or guarantee such positions are held in one or more accounts pursuant to a Commission order that requires such positions and property to be segregated, pursuant to section 4d(a) of the Act, from the positions and property of:

(1) The futures commission merchant;

(2) If applicable, any affiliate carrying the securities positions as a participant in the XM program (“Affiliate”); and

(3) Other futures customers of the futures commission merchant (such segregated accounts, the “XM accounts”).

(b) The futures commission merchant may, and any Affiliate that holds the securities positions in an XM account that it directly carries will, be registered as a broker-dealer under the Exchange Act. The Commission order approving the XM program may limit participating customers to market professionals and will require a participating customer to sign an agreement, in a form approved by the Commission, that refers to this distributional rule.

(c) A futures commission merchant is deemed to receive securities held in an XM account, including securities and other property held by an Affiliate in an XM account, as “futures customer funds” (as defined in § 1.3 of this chapter) that margin, guarantee or secure commodity contracts in the XM account (or paired XM accounts at the futures commission merchant and an Affiliate). Under the agreement signed by the customer, in the event that the futures commission merchant (or Affiliate) is the subject of a SIPA proceeding, the customer agrees that securities in an XM account are excluded from the securities estate for purposes of SIPA, and that its claim for return of the securities will not be treated as a customer claim under SIPA. These restrictions apply to the customer only, and should not be read to limit any action that the trustee may take to seek recovery of property in an XM account carried by an Affiliate as part of the customer estate of the futures commission merchant.

(d) XM accounts, and other futures accounts that are subject to segregation under section 4d(a) of the Act (pursuant to the Commission's regulations in part 1 of this chapter) (“non-XM accounts”), are treated as two subclasses of futures account with two separate pools of segregated futures customer property, an XM pool and a non-XM pool, each of which constitutes a segregated pool under section 4d(a) of the Act. If the futures commission merchant has participated in multiple XM programs, the XM accounts in the different programs are combined and treated as part of the same XM subclass of futures accounts. A futures customer could hold both non-XM and XM accounts.

(e) Customer claims under this part arising out of the XM subclass of accounts are subordinated to customer claims arising out of the non-XM subclass of accounts in certain circumstances in which the futures commission merchant does not meet its segregation requirements. The segregation requirement is the amount of futures customer funds that the futures commission merchant is required by the Act and Commission regulations in part 1 of this chapter or Commission orders to hold on deposit in segregated accounts on behalf of its futures customers (exclusive of its targeted residual amount obligations pursuant to § 1.3 of this chapter).

(f)(1) If there is a shortfall in the non-XM pool and no shortfall in the XM pool, all customer net equity claims, whether or not they arise out of the XM subclass of accounts, will be combined and paid pro rata out of the combined XM and non-XM pools of futures customer property.

(2) If there is a shortfall in the XM pool and no shortfall in the non-XM pool, customer net equity claims arising from the XM subclass of accounts must be satisfied first from the XM pool, and customer net equity claims arising from the non-XM subclass of accounts must be satisfied first from the non-XM pool.

(3) If there is a shortfall in both the non-XM and XM pools:

(i) If the non-XM shortfall as a percentage of the segregation requirement for the non-XM pool is greater than or equal to the XM shortfall as a percentage of the segregation requirement for the XM pool, all customer net equity claims will be paid pro rata out of the combined XM and non-XM pools of futures customer property; and

(ii) If the XM shortfall as a percentage of the segregation requirement for the XM pool is greater than the non-XM shortfall as a percentage of the segregation requirement for the non-XM pool, non-XM customer net equity claims will be paid pro rata out of the available non-XM pool, and XM customer net equity claims will be paid pro rata out of the available XM pool.

(4) In this way, non-XM customers will never be adversely affected by an XM shortfall.

(g) The following examples illustrate the operation of this framework 1. The examples assume that the FCM has two futures customers, one with exclusively XM accounts and one with exclusively non-XM accounts.

Framework 2—Special Allocation of Shortfall to Customer Claims When Customer Funds for Futures Contracts and Cleared Swaps Customer Collateral are Held in a Depository Outside of the United States or in a Foreign Currency

The Commission has established the following allocation convention with respect to futures customer funds (as § 1.3 of this chapter defines such term) and Cleared Swaps Customer Collateral (as § 22.1 of this chapter defines such term) (both of which are customer funds (as § 1.3 of this chapter defines such term) that are segregated pursuant to the Act and Commission rules thereunder), which applies in certain circumstances when futures customer funds or Cleared Swaps Customer Collateral are held by a futures commission merchant in a depository outside the United States (“U.S.”) or in a foreign currency. If a futures commission merchant enters into bankruptcy and maintains futures customer funds or Cleared Swaps Customer Collateral in a depository outside the U.S. or in a depository located in the U.S. in a currency other than U.S. dollars, the trustee shall use the following allocation procedures to calculate the claim of each public customer in the futures account class or each public customer in the cleared swaps account class, as applicable, when a sovereign action of a foreign government or court has occurred that contributes to shortfalls in the amounts of futures customer funds or Cleared Swaps Customer Collateral. In the event a sovereign action creates or contributes to a shortfall in customer property, applying the allocation convention will result in a reallocation of distributions of futures customer funds or Cleared Swaps Collateral to take into account the impact of the sovereign action. For purposes of this bankruptcy convention, sovereign action of a foreign government or court would include, but not be limited to, the application or enforcement of statutes, rules, regulations, interpretations, advisories, decisions, or orders, formal or informal, by a Federal, state, or provincial executive, legislature, judiciary, or government agency. The trustee should perform the allocation procedures separately with respect to each public customer in the futures account class or cleared swaps account class.

source: 86 FR 19421, Apr. 13, 2021, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 17 CFR 190.17