I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1256 

To direct the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to jointly adopt rules setting forth the application to cross-border swaps transactions of certain provisions relating 

to swaps that were enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

Reform and Consumer Protection Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2013 

Mr. GARRETT (for himself, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. CARNEY, and Mr. DAVID

SCOTT of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 

Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Securities and Exchange Commission and the 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission to jointly adopt 

rules setting forth the application to cross-border swaps 

transactions of certain provisions relating to swaps that 

were enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

Reform and Consumer Protection Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Swap Jurisdiction Cer3 tainty Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. JOINT RULEMAKING ON CROSS-BORDER SWAPS. 

5 (a) JOINT RULEMAKING REQUIRED.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Securi8 ties and Exchange Commission and the Commodity 

9 Futures Trading Commission shall jointly issue rules 

10 setting forth the application of United States swaps 

11 requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 

12 1934 and the Commodity Exchange Act relating to 

13 swaps and security-based swaps transacted between 

14 U.S. persons and non-U.S. persons. 

15 (2) CONSTRUCTION.—The Commissions shall 

16 jointly issue the rules required under paragraph (1) 

17 notwithstanding any difference in the authorities 

18 granted the Commissions in sections 30(c) and 36(c) 

19 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 

20 78dd(c); 78mm(c)) and section 2(i) of the Com21 modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 2(i)), respectively. 

22 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Commissions shall joint23 ly issue rules that address— 

24 (1) the nature of the connections to the United 

25 States that require a non-U.S. person to register as 

26 a swap dealer, major swap participant, securityVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:43 Mar 22, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1256.IH H1256

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1 based swap dealer, or security-based swap partici2 pant under each Commission’s respective Acts and 

3 the regulations issued under such Acts; 

4 (2) which of the United States swaps require5 ments shall apply to the swap and security-based 

6 swap activities of non-U.S. persons, U.S. persons, 

7 and their branches, agencies, subsidiaries, and affili8 ates outside of the United States and the extent to 

9 which such requirements shall apply; and 

10 (3) the circumstances under which a non-U.S. 

11 person in compliance with the regulatory require12 ments of a foreign jurisdiction shall be exempt from 

13 United States swaps requirements. 

14 (c) RULE IN ACCORDANCE WITH APA REQUIRED.— 

15 No guidance, memorandum of understanding, or any such 

16 other agreement may satisfy the requirement to issue a 

17 joint rule from the Commissions in accordance with sec18 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (d) GENERAL APPLICATION TO G20 MEMBER NA20 TIONS.— 

21 (1) GENERAL APPLICATION.—In issuing rules 

22 under this section, the Commissions shall provide 

23 that a non-U.S. person in compliance with the swaps 

24 regulatory requirements of a G20 member nation, or 

25 other foreign jurisdiction as jointly determined by 


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1 the Commissions, shall be exempt from United 

2 States swaps requirements in accordance with the 

3 schedule set forth in paragraph (2), unless the Com4 missions jointly determine that the regulatory re5 quirements of the G20 member nation or other for6 eign jurisdiction are not broadly equivalent to 

7 United States swaps requirements. 

8 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE SCHEDULE.—The exemp9 tion described in paragraph (1) and set forth under 

10 the rules required by this section shall apply to per11 sons or transactions relating to or involving— 

12 (A) G20 member nations, or any other for13 eign jurisdiction as jointly determined by the 

14 Commissions, accounting for the five largest 

15 combined swap and security-based swap mar16 kets by notional amount in the calendar year 

17 preceding issuance of such rules, on the date on 

18 which final rules are issued under this section; 

19 (B) G20 member nations, or any other for20 eign jurisdiction as jointly determined by the 

21 Commissions, accounting for the next five larg22 est combined swap and security-based swap 

23 markets by notional amount in the calendar 

24 year preceding issuance of such rules, 1 year 


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1 after the date on which such rules are issued; 

2 and 

3 (C) the remaining G20 member nations, 

4 and any other foreign jurisdiction as jointly de5 termined by the Commissions, 18 months after 

6 the date on which such rules are issued. 

7 (3) CRITERIA.—In such rules, the Commissions 

8 shall jointly establish criteria for determining that 

9 one or more categories of regulatory requirements of 

10 a G20 member nation or other foreign jurisdiction 

11 is not broadly equivalent to United States swaps re12 quirements and shall jointly determine the appro13 priate application of certain United States swap re14 quirements to persons or transactions relating to or 

15 involving that G20 member nation or other foreign 

16 jurisdiction. Such criteria shall include the scope and 

17 objectives of the regulatory requirements of a G20 

18 member nation or other foreign jurisdiction as well 

19 as the effectiveness of the supervisory compliance 

20 program administered, and the enforcement author21 ity exercised, by such G20 member nation or other 

22 foreign jurisdiction, and such other factors as the 

23 Commissions, by rule, jointly determine to be nec24 essary or appropriate in the public interest. 


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1 (4) REQUIRED ASSESSMENT.—Beginning on 

2 after the date on which final rules are issued under 

3 this section, the Commissions shall begin to jointly 

4 assess the regulatory requirements of G20 member 

5 nations, as the Commissions jointly determine ap6 propriate, in accordance with the criteria established 

7 pursuant to paragraph (3), to determine if one or 

8 more categories of regulatory requirements of a G20 

9 member nation or other foreign jurisdiction is not 

10 broadly equivalent to United States swaps require11 ments 

12 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If the Commissions 

13 make the joint determination described in subsection 

14 (d)(1) that the regulatory requirements of the G20 mem15 ber nation or other foreign jurisdiction are not broadly 

16 equivalent to United States swaps requirements, the Com17 missions shall articulate the basis for such a determination 

18 in a written report transmitted to the Committee on Fi19 nancial Services and the Committee on Agriculture of the 

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 

21 Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Agri22 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate within 30 

23 days of the determination. The determination shall not be 

24 effective until the transmission of such report. 


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1 (f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act and for pur2 poses of the rules issued pursuant to this Act, the fol3 lowing definitions apply: 

4 (1) The term ‘‘G20 member nation’’ refers to a 

5 nation that is a member nation of the Group of 

6 Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Gov7 ernors. 

8 (2) The term ‘‘U.S. person’’ has the meaning 

9 given such term in section 230.902(k) of title 17, 

10 Code of Federal Regulations. The Commissions may, 

11 by rule, jointly revise the definition of U.S. person 

12 for purposes of the rules required under this section 

13 as they determine appropriate to more effectively 

14 carry out the purposes of this Act. 

15 (3) The term ‘‘United States swaps require16 ments’’ means the provisions relating to swaps and 

17 security-based swaps contained in the Commodity 

18 Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a et seq.) and the Securi19 ties Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) 

20 that were added by title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall 

21 Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (15 

22 U.S.C. 8301 et seq.) and any rules or regulations 

23 prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Commis24 sion and the Commodity Futures Trading Commis25 sion pursuant to such provisions. 


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1 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.— 

3 Section 36(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

4 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78mm(c)) is amended by inserting 

5 ‘‘or except as necessary to effectuate the purposes of 

6 the Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act,’’ after ‘‘to 

7 grant exemptions,’’. 

8 (2) COMMODITY EXCHANGE ACT.—Section 

9 4(c)(1)(A) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 

10 U.S.C. 6(c)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or ex11 cept as necessary to effectuate the purposes of the 

12 Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act,’’ after ‘‘to grant 

13 exemptions,’’. 

Æ 


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