January 2, 2013

CFTC Announces Real-Time Public Reporting of Swap Transactions and Swap Dealer Registration Began December 31, 2012

Washington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that both real-time public reporting of swap transactions and swap dealer registration, pursuant to reforms enacted by Congress, began on December 31, 2012.

“Two of the most significant Dodd-Frank reforms began implementation this week,” said CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler. “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.”

As of Monday, 65 entities had submitted applications and became provisionally registered as swap dealers. This initial group of entities includes the largest domestic and international financial institutions dealing in swaps with U.S. persons. It includes the 16 institutions commonly referred to as the G16 dealers. This initial group of entities had in October, the first month in which the swap dealer registration requirement applied to these entities, exceeded the de minimis level of swap dealing activity that triggers the registration requirement. Other entities are expected to register over the course of this year once they exceed the de minimis threshold.

This week, the provisionally registered swap dealers began reporting interest rate and credit index swap transactions to swap data repositories (SDRs). Designated contract markets (DCMs) that trade swaps also are required to follow these reporting and recordkeeping rules. This swap dealer and DCM reporting to SDRs builds upon the reporting by clearinghouses, which began October 12. All such data is available electronically to the CFTC, and also is available upon request to other regulators pursuant to the Commodity Exchange Act, providing an important new window into the swaps market.

The public will be able access the real-time swap transaction and pricing data through the SDRs’ websites. This new transparency for the swaps market is similar in a number of ways to TRACE, a trade-reporting vehicle for transactions in corporate bonds and other eligible fixed-income securities.

Additional reporting of swap transactions will be phased in over the next several months. In February, swap dealer reporting will begin for foreign exchange, equity and physical commodity swaps (including agricultural and energy swaps). All other market participants that are required to report their transactions are due to begin reporting in April. (See fact sheet for further detail).

"This week’s implementation of transparency and oversight reforms begins to fulfill key goals of the Dodd-Frank Act,” Chairman Gensler said. "They are an historic change for the markets that will benefit the public and the economy at large. This achievement is a real testament to the dedication and excellence of the CFTC staff working as a team and with other regulators, both domestic and international. I also would like to thank Commissioners Sommers, Chilton, O’Malia and Wetjen for their significant contributions to making the implementation of these reforms now a reality.”

A list of provisionally registered swap dealers is listed below:

Last Updated: January 2, 2013