Swap Dealer Registration, Real-Time Data Reporting Begins

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced the successful commencement of public real-time swap transaction data reporting, and swap dealer registration, pursuant to Dodd-Frank Act mandates.

The public reporting of transaction data began on December 31 2012, and as of Monday, 65 entities had provisionally registered as swap dealers. These included most major banks and brokers in the US, including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Newedge and others.

Interest rate and credit index swaps were required to begin reporting on this date, although any designated contract market (DCM) that trades swaps is also expected to follow the reporting and recordkeeping requirements to swap data repositories (SDRs). Members of the public will have access to the data through SDR websites.

"Two of the most significant Dodd-Frank reforms began implementation this week," says Gary Gensler, chairman at the CFTC. "Real-time reporting brings transparency to the formerly opaque swaps market. Also this week, the largest entities dealing in the swaps market became provisionally registered as swap dealers.

"With these historic reforms, the public, for the first time, can see the price and volume of swap transactions, just as it has benefitted from transparency for decades in the securities and futures markets. The public also will benefit as swap dealers now will be subject to common-sense standards for sales practices, recordkeeping and business conduct rules that will help lower risk to the rest of the economy," he continues.