View all text of Subpart C [§ 190.11 - § 190.19]

§ 190.18 - Treatment of property.

(a) General. The property of the debtor's estate must be allocated between member property and customer property other than member property as provided in this section to satisfy claims of clearing members, as customers of the debtor. The property so allocated will constitute a separate estate of the customer class (i.e., member property, and customer property other than member property) and the account class to which it is allocated, and will be designated by reference to such customer class and account class.

(b) Scope of customer property. Customer property is the property available for distribution within the relevant account class in respect of claims by clearing members, as customers of the clearing organization, based on customer accounts carried by the debtor for the benefit of such members' public customers or, considered separately, such members' house accounts.

(1) Customer property includes the following:

(i) All cash, securities, or other property, or the proceeds of such cash, securities, or other property, that is received, acquired, or held by or for the account of the debtor, from or for any commodity contract account of a clearing member carried by the debtor, which is:

(A) Property received, acquired, or held, in order to margin, guarantee, secure, purchase, or sell a commodity contract;

(B) Open commodity contracts;

(C) Physical delivery property as that term is defined in paragraphs (1) through (3) of the definition of that term in § 190.01;

(D) Cash, securities or other property received by the debtor as payment for a commodity to be delivered to fulfill a commodity contract from or for the commodity customer account of a clearing member or a customer of a clearing member;

(E) Profits or contractual rights accruing as a result of a commodity contract;

(F) Letters of credit, including any proceeds of a letter of credit drawn upon by the trustee, or substitute customer property posted by a clearing member or a customer of a clearing member, pursuant to § 190.04(d)(3); or

(G) Securities held in a portfolio margining account carried as a futures account or a cleared swaps customer account;

(ii) All cash, securities, or other property which:

(A) Is segregated by the debtor on the filing date for the benefit of clearing members' house accounts or clearing members' public customer accounts;

(B) Was of a type described in paragraph (b)(1)(i)(A) of this section that is subsequently recovered by the avoidance powers of the trustee or is otherwise recovered by the trustee on any other claim or basis;

(C) Represents a recovery of any debit balance, margin deficit or other claim of the debtor against any commodity contract account carried for the benefit of a member's house accounts or a member's public customer accounts;

(D) Was unlawfully converted but is part of the debtor's estate; or

(E) Was of a type described in paragraphs (a)(1)(ii)(H) through (K) of § 190.09 (as if the term debtor used therein refers to a clearing organization as debtor);

(iii) Any guaranty fund deposit, assessment, or similar payment or deposit made by a clearing member, or recovered by the trustee, to the extent any remains following administration of the debtor's default rules and procedures, and any other property of a member available under the debtor's rules and procedures to satisfy claims made by or on behalf of public customers of a member; and

(iv) Amounts of its own funds that the debtor had committed as part of its loss allocation rules, to the extent that such amounts have not already been applied under such rules.

(2) Customer property will not include property of the type described in § 190.09(a)(2), as if the term debtor used therein refers to a clearing organization and to the extent relevant to a clearing organization.

(c) Allocation of customer property between customer classes. (1) Where the funded balance for members' house accounts is greater than one hundred percent with respect to any account class:

(i) Any excess should be allocated to customer property other than member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' public customers in any account class; and

(ii) Any remaining excess after the application of paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section should be allocated to member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' house accounts in any other account class.

(2) Where the funded balance for members' public customers in any account class is greater than one hundred percent:

(i) Any excess should be allocated to customer property other than member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' public customers in any other account class; and

(ii) Any remaining excess after the application of paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section should be allocated to member property to the extent that the funded balance is less than one hundred percent of net equity claims for members' house accounts in any account class.

(d) Allocation of customer property among account classes—(1) Segregated property. Subject to paragraph (b) of this section, property held by or for the account of a customer, which is segregated on behalf of a specific account class within a customer class, or readily traceable on the filing date to customers of such account class within a customer class, or recovered by the trustee on behalf of or for the benefit of an account class within a customer class, must be allocated to the customer estate of the account class for which it is segregated, to which it is readily traceable, or for which it is recovered.

(2) All other property. Customer property which cannot be allocated in accordance with paragraph (d)(1) of this section, shall be allocated within customer classes, but between account classes, in the following order:

(i) To the estate of the account class for which the percentage of each members' net equity claim which is funded is the lowest, until the funded percentage of net equity claims of such account class equals the percentage of each members' net equity claim which is funded for the account class with the next lowest percentage of the funded claims; and then

(ii) To the estate of the two account classes so that the percentage of the net equity claims which are funded for each such account class remains equal until the percentage of each net equity claim which is funded equals the percentage of each net equity claim which is funded for the account class with the next lowest percentage of funded claims, and so forth, until all account classes within the customer class are fully funded.

(e) Accounts without separation by account class. Where the debtor has, prior to the order for relief, kept initial margin for house accounts in accounts without separation by account class, then member property will be considered to be in a single account class.

(f) Assertion of claims by trustee. Nothing in this section, including, but not limited to, the satisfaction of customer claims by operation of this section, shall prevent a trustee from asserting claims against any person to recover the shortfall of property enumerated in paragraphs (b)(1)(i)(E) and (b)(1)(ii) and (iii) of this section.