The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is looking to over-haul the way in which swaps-data reporting is done in an attempt to better make use of the information it receives.
The CFTC has released a request for comment on around 70 questions regarding swaps-data reporting and how to use the data it collects from companies like Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. and CME Group Inc.
Both the CFTC and the SEC were made responsible for collecting swaps-data after the financial crisis of 2008 in order to bring more transparency to the market and point out risks in the system before they lead to another crisis.
Currently, regulators are finding it very difficult to make sense of the information they are receiving on the almost $700 trillion dollar swaps market in a timely manner, which is raising concerns among market officials.
It seems the swaps-data reporting overhaul has been a long time coming. CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia had mentioned issues with reporting last year, saying that the data they were collecting was not helping the regulator detect the issues it’s working to protect against.
Other than what to do with the data it collects, the agency will be looking for advice on just how to go about collecting the data. It’s currently defending itself in a lawsuit with the DTCC over its current methods, with the DTCC saying that the CFTC allowing CME Group Inc. to report data on its own databases is anticompetitive and counterproductive to reducing transparency.