SEC and CFTC ask: too much swap data, or just the wrong kind?
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have opened a request for comment on harmonising and slimming down data reporting across swap and security-based swap markets.
Firms reporting under both regimes have long juggled overlapping, not-quite-matching reporting obligations, and the agencies now want to know where the two frameworks might be brought into line. They want input on transparency, data quality and standardised identifiers and reference data. As SEC Chairman Paul Atkins put it, “extensive data collection, if not appropriately calibrated, can hinder, rather than enhance, understanding and accountability.”
The cure for complex, duplicated reporting is not necessarily more data: it’s common identifiers and shared definitions, so a single filing can satisfy two regulators and be simpler to parse. It’s encouraging to see both agencies treating standardised reference data as central to improving the reporting experience of impacted firms.
Read the press release and request for comment here.
