Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts this weekend (Sunday, 4 October 2026) for most Australian states. While you enjoy the sun and longer days, you will need to check that your ASIC OTC derivative reporting is using the correct time settings.
Here are 2 tips to help you ensure your trades/transactions are reported at the correct time:
1. Check your Time fields in your handback files
When you receive your handback files for trades carried out after DST starts, it is important to check the following and act promptly if there are any problems.
Cross-check the time of your trades against the Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) recorded under the following DTCC field:
- Original Execution Timestamp field in your handback file. This field must match your trade’s Open Time.
How should you check this?
- Select a sample of trades from your raw data and convert the time to UTC; and
- Compare those against the UTC populated under the fields as described above in your handback file.
In cases where you are not using Sydney local time as your server time, this check also aims to ensure you are reporting correctly where there are any changes in other time zones, such as New York and London.
If the time does not match, please contact us.
2. Check time recorded for daily snapshot (if applicable)
For firms that submit a daily snapshot for ASIC trade reporting, you will have to double-check whether it is taking place at the intended end-of-day time.
Performing these simple checks above will save you time and effort from having to re-submit corrections for your trades and will also help minimise the risk of breaches going forward.
A quick note on the upcoming public holiday (Monday, 5 October 2026): it has no bearing on this process, since the DST time conversion is separate from the reporting process itself. At TRAction, we will continue converting trade times from DST to UTC as usual for all trades executed after the change – the public holiday only affects the reporting process. For more detail, see our article on how the festive season affects trade and transaction reporting.
If you have any concerns or are not sure how to do this check, please contact us.
