SEC allows cross‑margining

The Securities and Exchange Commission has cleared the way for customers to cross-margin cash Treasury trades and Treasury futures in one program. (sec.gov) Cross-margining lets a clearinghouse count offsetting positions together instead of demanding separate collateral for each leg. On April 15, 2026, the agency issued a conditional exemptive order and approved a related Fixed Income Clearing Corporation rule change. (sec.gov 1) (sec.gov 2) The setup covers cash positions in United States Treasury securities cleared by a registered clearing agency and futures positions in United States Treasury securities cleared by a registered derivatives clearing organization. In practice, that links the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation cash market with Chicago Mercantile Exchange Treasury futures for eligible customer accounts. (sec.gov) (cmegroup.com) The change extends a cross-margining arrangement that Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation already use for proprietary, or house, accounts. Chicago Mercantile Exchange said that enhanced house cross-margining went live in January 2024, and the customer expansion was filed in May 2025. (cmegroup.com) (federalregister.gov) The Treasury market has been under pressure to handle more trading through central clearing after a series of stress episodes and a broad regulatory push. The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted Treasury clearing rules in December 2023 that require many cash and repo trades to move through covered clearing agencies. (sec.gov) (reuters.com) Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said the new order should reduce costs, improve market efficiency, and help keep the Treasury market resilient. Reuters reported that dealers and clearing groups had argued the margin offset would make centrally cleared Treasury trading cheaper for firms that hedge cash bonds with futures. (sec.gov) (reuters.com) The relief is not open-ended. The order is conditioned on safeguards, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued its own April 15, 2026 exemptive order so dual registrants can hold futures customer funds in a commingled customer account at the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. (sec.gov) (cftc.gov) The Fixed Income Clearing Corporation filing says the program is limited to positions cleared and carried for customers by a jointly registered broker-dealer and futures commission merchant that is also a common member of both clearinghouses. The filing also requires a separate customer account structure and a cross-margining clearing member agreement between the firms and the two clearing organizations. (sec.gov) (federalregister.gov) For Treasury dealers and hedge funds that trade the same rate view in two markets, the immediate effect is simpler: one margin pool can replace two. The regulator’s bet is that cheaper hedging inside central clearing will pull more Treasury activity into the cleared system rather than around it. (reuters.com) (sec.gov)