Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Say Margin Rule Damages U.S. Banks

Proposed Dodd-Frank swaps regulations imposing margin requirements to reduce trading risks will “damage the competitiveness” of foreign-based businesses of U.S. banks compared with their overseas rivals, lawyers for six banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley told regulators.

Applying margin requirements to transactions outside the U.S. “will inevitably encourage customers to do business instead with non-U.S. competitors,” lawyers representing the banks said in a letter dated June 29 and sent to the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Commodity Futures Trading Commission and other regulators.