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Wall Street May Get $40 Billion Reprieve From Trump Regulators

  • FDIC and Fed set to propose scrapping key swaps margin demand
  • Move would free up cash banks post for trades with affiliates
Pedestrians walk along Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange  in New York.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Wall Street could soon get one of its most consequential wins of the Trump era as regulators are considering ripping up a rule that’s forced banks to set aside billions of dollars for swaps trades, according to people familiar with the matter.

At issue is a requirement approved during the Obama administration that’s made lenders post tens of billions in margin when engaging in derivatives transactions with their own affiliates. Industry lobbyists have long argued that the demand, which came out of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, is redundant and puts U.S. banks at a competitive disadvantage to overseas rivals.