EU to everyone- you show me yours…

The EU Council has issued notice of an attaché level meeting on 4 September 2014 to discuss the sharing of data held in trade repositories. However, the promised land is still some way off- the meeting will examine the Commission recommendation for a Council decision to open negotiations on bilateral agreements between the EU and the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.

 As the only other jurisdiction that has a trading regime in place for OTC derivatives, and the lion’s share of volume, the US is the vital element in the above list. While ESMA has full access to European trade reporting since its inception in February, access to US data would greatly aid the difficult task of calibrating vital liquidity definitions under MiFIR. Dodd-Frank currently bars US trade repositories from sharing data without an indemnity from the recipient. HR 4413, the rea-authorisation (and readjustment) bill for the CFTC contains an Act (HR 742) intended to remove the need for indemnification and resolve data confidentiality issues within Dodd-Frank. Reauthorisation was passed by Congress in June and now awaits approval by the Senate and eventual signing by the President. In its various guises, transparency is arguably the main purpose of the G20 reforms- even while regulators’ ability to analyse such volumes of data remains in doubt, the free exchange of data is the first step to enlightenment.