On June 5, 2013, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) issued an interim final rule (IFR) that allows uninsured US branches and agencies of foreign banks the same two year phase-in period for the swaps Pushout Rule afforded to US insured depository institutions (IDIs). The swaps Pushout Rule, under Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act, generally prohibits any "swaps entity" from receiving federal assistance, which includes deposit insurance and access to the federal discount window (see Practice Note, The Dodd-Frank Act's Pushout Rule: Implications for the Derivatives Market).

The swaps pushout rule takes effect on July 16, 2013. However, earlier this year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued guidance that allowed IDIs to request a two year phase-in period to comply with the pushout provision (see Legal Update, OCC Offers Swaps Pushout Rule Extensions). This interim final rule extends the phase-in period to US branches of foreign banks, which otherwise would have either:

The IFR addresses what many believe to be a drafting error that the market had been anticipating would be corrected for some time. The IFR became effective June 4, 2013, and the FRB is accepting comments on the rule at the FRB website until August 4, 2013.

Note that the Swaps Pushout Rule has been amended by federal legislation signed into law by President Obama in December 2014 and will now affect only a limited range of transactions (see Legal Update, Dodd-Frank Swaps Pushout Rule Substantially Repealed).