In separate responses to frequently asked questions issued on October 10 and 11 (each, an FAQ), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has provided additional clarification regarding swap data reporting obligations.

On October 10, the CFTC issued an FAQ related to the start of swap data reporting. The FAQ addresses a variety of issues and concerns that have been raised by market participants, including: the date by which Swap Dealers (SDs) must begin to report swap data to a Swap Data Repository (SDR), the date by which Major Swap Participants (MSPs) must begin to report swap data to an SDR, the date by which a non-SD/MSP reporting counterparty must begin to report swap data to an SDR, the date by which “historical swaps” must begin to be reported, and the date by which Legal Entity Identifiers must be obtained to comply with Part 45 and Part 46 of the CFTC regulations.

On October 11, the CFTC issued a second FAQ related to the reporting of cleared swaps. The FAQ addresses a variety of issues and concerns that have been raised by market participants regarding the mechanics of reporting, including how cleared swap transactions will be reported to SDRs, the respective reporting obligations of SDs, MSPs, and other swap counterparties, and the ability of swap counterparties to select the SDR to which swap data will be reported and designate which party is to report any creation and continuation data.

The FAQ further addresses several reporting obligations for derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs), swap execution facilities (SEFs), and designated contract markets (DCMs). Among other things, the FAQ clarifies that a DCO, SEF or DCM that is also registered as, or affiliated with, an SDR is not permitted to require counterparties to use that “captive” SDR to report swap transactions.

The October 10 FAQ is available here.

The October 11 FAQ is available here.