The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a package of measures that will allow some users to trade on cash margin in US Treasury bonds and related Treasury futures contracts. This step represents another stage in the launch of the US Treasury’s clearing framework and aims to support liquidity and flexibility in the market.
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Conditional exemption for companies with dual registration
The SEC issued a conditional exemption order allowing customers to distinguish between cash treasury positions that are cleared at a registered clearing agency and treasury futures positions that are cleared at registered derivatives. Clearing organized.
The exemption applies to a broker-dealer that also registers as a futures commission merchant (FCM) with the CFTC and serves as a joint clearing member of both clearing entities. Under the order, these firms may offer cross-margin to eligible clients in a futures account, provided they comply with the terms of the exemption from the Customer Protection Rule for brokers and dealers.
NEW: SEC Approves Exemption Order and Proposed Rule Change to Allow Clients to Swap Margins in the U.S. Treasury MarketRead More: https://t.co/jTiN7BZgqZ
– US Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) April 15, 2026
The SEC’s move is important for FX and CFDs mainly through liquidity and funding channels rather than through direct rule changes: by allowing cross-margining between cash Treasuries and Treasury futures, regulators lower collateral and funding costs for large macro and fundamental traders.
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This could support greater risk stability and liquidity in US interest rates, a key anchor for global pricing in foreign currencies and fundamental indices. It also reduces the potential for margin-induced shocks to spread to banks and non-banks Liquidity Providing foreign exchange markets and CFDs.
It allows these firms to identify offsetting risks between cash treasury positions and identical futures contracts in specific client portfolios while remaining within the regulatory safeguards set forth in the Exemption Order.
The FICC-CME agreement extends the scope of overlapping spreads to clients
Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a proposed rule change from the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC). This change allows FICC to enter into a third amended and restated Mutual Margin Agreement with Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) and incorporating that agreement into the rules of the FICC’s Government Securities Division, along with related rule amendments.
The new agreement expands the scope of cross-margins to include positions cleared and transferred to clients through a dually registered broker-dealer and an FCM that is a joint member of the FICC and CME. Until now, it has only been possible to distinguish clearing members’ proprietary positions between CME Treasury futures and FICC cash Treasury securities.
“Today’s issuance of orders completes another step in the implementation of Treasury clearing,” said SEC Commissioner Mark T. Ueda, who has led the SEC’s work in this area. “It advances the goal of both the SEC and CFTC to unlock additional liquidity and helps ensure the U.S. Treasury market remains resilient.”
The relief order and order approving the rule change will appear on SEC.gov before being published in the Federal Register, the SEC said. The relevant CFTC exemptive order will also be available at CFTC.gov and in the Federal Register.
This article was written by Jared Kirroy at www.financemagnates.com.
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