On March 30, 2012, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued guidance to clarify that July 16, 2013 will be the effective date for Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act, also known as the Pushout Rule or Lincoln Rule. The Pushout Rule prohibits the provision of federal assistance, such as access to the Federal Reserve discount window and FDIC deposit insurance, to entities classified as "swaps entities," which are entities that are designated as swap dealers and security-based swap dealers under Dodd-Frank with respect to any particular type of swap or security-based swap.

The guidance was issued in response to several inquiries requesting clarification on the effective date due to unclear language in the statute. For more on the Pushout Rule, see Practice Note, The Dodd-Frank Act's Pushout Rule.

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and will now affect only a limited range of transactions (see Legal Update, Dodd-Frank Swaps Pushout Rule Substantially Repealed).