Frequently asked questions
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Find the answers to some of our most frequently asked questions below.
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General
The T stands for transaction date, which is the day the transaction takes place. The number denotes how many business days after the transaction date the initial report of the transaction must be submitted to a Trade Repository or an approved reporting mechanism (ARM). In effect, the report must be submitted no later than the working day following the event. The same application works for T + 2 i.e. the report is to be submitted no later than 2 working days after the transaction date.
There isn’t one. We suggest you choose an end of day that aligns with the end of day on your servers and your current reporting processes and stick to it (subject to daylight savings which shifts the end of day for many brokers twice a year by one hour). Although there is no clear definition for this, ASIC has referred to it akin with ‘snapshot’ reporting and EMIR and MAS have used it in the context of ‘end of day’ reporting or position.
Counterparties which are subject to reporting obligations may delegate reporting, however it must be ensured that there is no reporting duplication. When counterparties delegate reporting, they retain the responsibility for the accuracy and timely submission of the reports.
A Trade Repository is an entity that centrally collects and maintains the records of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. These electronic platforms, acting as authoritative registries of key information regarding open OTC derivatives trades, provide an effective tool for mitigating the inherent opacity of OTC derivatives markets.
A Legal Entity Identifier (or LEI), is a unique 20-character code that identifies distinct legal entities that engage in financial transactions.
The reporting of derivative transactions to TRs under ASIC, MAS, EMIR, MiFIR and Canada requires an LEI.
A Unique Trade Identifier (UTI) is an alphanumeric identifier required for each trade transaction. Given recent global efforts to harmonise trade reporting regimes, most jurisdictions require both counterparties to a transaction, to report the same UTI for their leg of the trade.
Most global trade reporting regimes require dual-sided reporting. Therefore, both sides of a trade have an obligation to report if they are an EEA entity and use the same UTI. Regulators use the UTI to ensure the information reported on both sides of a transaction match.
In Europe and UK, there are a number of reporting regimes including EMIR, MiFID II/MiFIR, SFTR and Best Execution, all of which affect Investment Firms (IFs) in different ways. Read more to see the regulatory reporting required by IFs.
For the requirements in other countries such as Singapore, Canada, Australia and elsewhere, please be in touch with us to discuss further which reporting regimes apply to your firm.
Where a counterparty decides to delegate their reporting to a third party, they are required to ensure the details of their transactions are reporting correctly and accurately. TRAction provides its clients with a ‘handback’ or confirmation file including the details of the transactions that have been uploaded to the Trade Repository or Approved Reporting Mechanism. It is up to clients to cross-check against their transactions against the handback file.
EMIR
(UK and Europe)
The European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) is EU legislation for the regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange-traded derivatives. The regulations include requirements for reporting of derivative contracts and implementation of risk management standards. It established common rules for central counterparties and Trade Repositories (TRs). The objective of the legislation is to reduce systemic counterparty and operational risk, and help prevent future financial system collapses. The United Kingdom version of EMIR was onshored into UK legislation by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA). The EUWA enabled the European EMIR to be converted into UK law and essentially both EU EMIR and UK EMIR are quite similar. As a result, there is now EMIR for Europe, known as ‘EU EMIR’ and for the United Kingdom, known as ‘UK EMIR’. When we refer to ‘EMIR’ we refer to it in the context of both EU EMIR and/or UK EMIR, depending on the context.
Reporting needs to be done under the relevant jurisdiction of the reporting entity.
The EU EMIR regime generally applies to counterparties established in Europe, whereas under the UK EMIR regime, FCs and NFCs are generally limited to those established in the United Kingdom.
‘EMIR Refit’ was the term that was used during the most recent process of amendments and updates to EMIR (i.e. both EU EMIR and UK EMIR) which came into effect on 29 April 2024 for Europe and 30 September 2024 for the UK. The changes to EMIR were aimed to reduce disproportionate costs and burdens on counterparties without compromising the objectives of the initial EMIR implementation.
Counterparties which are subject to reporting obligations may delegate their EMIR reporting, however it must be ensured that there is no reporting duplication. When counterparties delegate reporting, they retain the responsibility for the accuracy and timely submission of the reports.
ESMA has sought to align EMIR with international, widely used formatting of data reports. EMIR has adopted ISO 20022 XML which is also currently used for other regulatory regimes.
With the inclusion of 87 and 88 new reporting fields for EU EMIR and UK EMIR, respectively, and the elimination of 15 previous fields, the total number of reporting fields under EMIR has increased from 129 to 203 and 204 for EU EMIR and UK EMIR, respectively.
Yes - EMIR Refit aimed to increase transparency of trade life cycles by introducing Event Types alongside the currently reported Action Types. This will now provide more granularity about the specific business event triggering a given report.
Yes, rolling spot forex transactions are reportable under EMIR.
“Rolling Spot Forex Contract” is defined in the FCA Handbook to mean a future or contract-for-difference in forex / foreign exchange, entered into for speculative purposes. Both futures contracts and contracts-for-difference are covered by the definition of “derivative” under Article 2(5) of EMIR. Therefore, in the UK, rolling spot forex transactions are subject to reporting under EMIR.
No, if settled ≤ T+2.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has confirmed in their Q&A that “The EMIR reporting obligations covers all derivatives.”
As noted in EMIR Article 2(5), ‘‘derivative’ or ‘derivative contract’ means a financial instrument as set out in points (4) to (10) of Section C of Annex I to Directive 2004/39/EC as implemented by Article 38 and 39 of Regulation (EC) No 1287/2006.
There are no clear EMIR guidelines or determinations on the treatment of MBS and the decision to report is dependent on whether the firm dealing with such products determines whether or not they are a derivative. Given this grey area, there is no exact match as to how to report an MBS under an asset class or product type and so it may be appropriate to use the interest rate asset class if reporting an MBS.
No. Corporate entities are classified as either financial counterparties or non-financial counterparties. Both are obliged to report trades under EMIR.
The EU EMIR reporting obligation covers most participants involved in a trade other than natural persons and non-EU and non-EEA i.e. if you are an EU/EEA firm then you would be subject to EU EMIR.
The same applies for UK EMIR as it also does not apply to non-UK entities or subsidiaries.
If you are a non-EU entity then you will be indirectly affected when entering into derivatives with EU entities that are in-scope for reporting requirements under EMIR. If you are a non-UK entity, the same would apply with respect to your trades with a UK entity – you would be indirectly affected as your counterparty, being a UK entity, would need to comply with its UK EMIR reporting requirements.
A Trade Repository (TR) is an entity that centrally collects and maintains the records of OTC and exchange-traded derivatives. TRs play a central role in enhancing the transparency of derivative markets and reducing risks to financial stability.
TRs are registered and supervised in Europe and the UK, as detailed below:
It is possible to use position level reporting as a supplement to trade level reporting. It is not permissible to report only positions.
They have to be submitted on a T + 1 basis.
Yes, where it is a derivative under Article 2(5) of EMIR e.g. A spread-bet on a currency pair would be reportable under EMIR. A spread-bet on a sporting event would not.
The Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) are a consistent revision of the existing applicable standards. EMIR Refit updates (that came into effect 29 April 2024) were carried out through ESMA’s RTS and ITS, both of which were published by the European Commission on 7 October 2022. This means the revised RTS and ITS have been applicable since 29 April 2024 however, a 180-day deadline applies after this date for outstanding derivative contracts to be reported in line with the EMIR Refit requirements.
The key changes were:
- RTS - dealing with items that must be included in notifications including how they are structured, the data fields, lifecycle event reporting, reporting of collateral, alignment of field definitions with those in the critical data elements.
- ITS – setting data standards and formats with consideration of the reporting criteria in accordance with the RTS and focusing on things like use of XML, counterparty identification with LEI, product identification with ISINs and UPIs (and their CFI codes), UTI generation and waterfall, error notification to relevant NCAs and noting the 180-day deadline.
Use TRAction’s assessment tool to determine if you have reporting obligations under EMIR.
Yes, EMIR requires you to report the lifecycle of the trade or position. There have been cases where a position which opened one day and then closed during the following day was left out of trade data instead of being reported as closed (quantity/financial exposure = 0). Thus, ESMA’s or the FCA’s last record on this position is an open one (with a value) which is incorrect.
Under the revised EMIR RTS, identifiers such as the CFI, UPI and ISIN will need to be submitted with transaction reports. Read more on EMIR product identifiers.
TRs and ARMs need separate registrations with ESMA and the UK FCA. For example, some TRs and ARMs may not have obtained authorisation for registration of their TR or ARM businesses in both jurisdictions, and are merely operating out of one jurisdiction. Firms such as DTCC and LSEG RR (formerly UnaVista) now have separate UK-based and EU-based ARMs and TRs to overcome this problem. Investment firms (and their delegates) need to ensure they report their trades and transactions to the right TR/ARM based on the jurisdiction of the counterparty. See TRAction’s summary.
MiFIR/MiFID II
(UK and Europe)
MiFIR & MiFID II apply to investment firms within EEA member states and their branches located outside of the EEA when they engage in a transaction in a reportable instrument. Also, investment firms from outside the EEA will have a reporting obligation when operating from branches or subsidiaries within the EEA.
MiFIR introduced a number of significant changes to the transaction reporting regime, including:
- Increase in the number of financial instruments that must be reported;
- Number of fields within the transaction report to be increased from 24 to 65;
- Requirement to provide identity information for natural persons.
MiFIR transaction reporting enables NCAs to detect and investigate potential instances of market abuse and monitor the fair and orderly functioning of the markets. There is no real change from the purpose of the existing MiFID I transaction reporting; however, MiFIR was formulated after the MiFID review to better meet the requirements of regulators.
These requirements include more harmonised reporting across EEA. The process under MIFID I allowed some room for interpretation which made it difficult for the NCAs to understand reports received from other NCAs and for firms to report to multiple NCAs.
Regulators also need to reflect instruments caught by the Directive on criminal sanctions for market abuse 2014/57/EU (“the Market Abuse Directive”). Under the MIFID I transaction reporting, firms only needed to report equity (i.e. stocks) and debt related instruments (i.e. bonds).
Simply put, the regulators need more help to detect market abuse.
The Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation 600/2014 (MiFIR) in the European Union (EU) is legislation which commenced on 3 January 2018. It was formulated to support the obligation to uphold integrity of the markets by National Competent Authorities (NCAs).
MiFIR includes a reporting obligation, whereby firms which execute transactions in reportable financial instruments (see section C of Annex I on page 133) need to report complete and accurate details of the transaction (trade) to the NCA as quickly as possible and no later than the next working day.
The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014/65 (“MiFID II”) is European legislation that is set to significantly change the functioning and regulation of financial markets in Europe. MiFID II is the successor to MiFID I and makes changes to the original regime in areas including execution practices, regulatory reporting, conflicts of interest and passporting. Its legal form as a directive necessitates separate implementation in the legislation of each EEA member state. Learn more on our MiFID II page.
It is possible that there are conflicts between information restrictions from GDPR and reporting requirements under MiFIR. However, as the respective aims of the two regulations are not at odds (data protection for EEA residents and disclosure of derivative information to national regulators), any conflict should be capable of being resolved. The priority should focus on the MiFIR regulatory changes first and then assessing whether requirements under the GDPR has changed the regulatory reporting.
While EMIR and MiFIR are separate reporting regimes and have different reporting fields, some aspects of reporting can be combined such as producing a single data extract which covers the requirements of both. Keep an eye out on our upcoming blog article for further details.
Firms need to report details of transactions to the NCA as quickly as possible and no later than the close of the following working day (T+1).
Firms must report to the NCA using one of the following methods:
- Via an Approved Reporting Mechanism (ARM)
- Directly to the NCA
- Via a trading venue
Non-EEA firms will have a MiFIR reporting obligation when operating from a branch within the EEA. Keep an eye out for our upcoming blog article on the extra-territorial reach of MiFIR.
Under MiFID II transaction reporting requirements, firms need to report to their host state regulator, the National Competent Authority (NCA). For MiFIR, firms will need to report to their “home state” NCA. E.g. The UK branch of a French investment firm would report to the AMF in France rather than the FCA.
The instrument identification code is the code used to identify the financial instrument. The ISIN code will be the only way of identifying venue traded instruments. Non-venue traded instruments will require an ISIN code for the underlying instrument or an ISIN or index name where the underlying is an index. See here for a detailed explanation on product identifier requirements.
Under MiFIR, the types of trading venues are:
- “Regulated Market” or “RM” – a multilateral system operated and/or managed by a market operator, which brings together or facilitates the bringing together of multiple third-party buying and selling interests in financial instruments in accordance with non-discretionary rules
- “Multilateral Trading Facility” or “MTF” – a multilateral system operated by an investment firm or a market operator, which brings together multiple third-party buying and selling interests in financial instruments in in accordance with non-discretionary rules
- “Organised Trading Facility” or “OTF” – a multilateral system which is not a regulated market or an MTF and in which multiple third-party buying and selling interests in bonds, structured finance products, emission allowances or derivatives are able to interact in the system in a way that results in a contract. Unlike RMs and MTFs, operators of an OTF have some discretion in execution.
For more details, visit our infographic.
- Financial instruments which have been admitted to trading or are traded on an EEA trading venue – Regulated Market (“RM”), a Multilateral Trading Facility (“MTF”) or an Organised Trading Facility (“OTF”). These trading venues are described in more detail in the ‘What are the different types of trading venue?’ FAQ below.
- Instruments where the underlying is a financial instrument traded on an EEA Trading Venue.
- Instruments where the underlying is an index or a basket composed of instruments traded on EEA Trading Venue.
‘Financial instrument’s are defined in Section C of Annex I of MiFID II. It includes, amongst many others, transferable securities, money market instruments, financial contracts-for-difference and derivative contracts relating to securities, currencies, interest rates or yields, emission allowances and commodities.
- Reception and transmission of orders in relation to one or more financial instrument
- Execution of order on behalf of clients
- Dealing on own account
- Making an investment decision in accordance with a discretionary mandate given by a client
- Transfer of financial instruments to or from accounts.
In the MiFIR RTS 22 (Regulatory Technical Standards), a transaction is broadly defined as:
- A purchase or sale of a financial instrument;
- Entering into or closing out of a derivative contract in a financial instrument;
- An increase or decrease in the notional amount for a derivative contract that is a financial instrument;
- The simultaneous acquisition and disposal of a financial instrument where there is no change in the ownership of that instrument but post trade publication is required.
See our helpful blog article here.
See our helpful blog article here.
SFTR
(UK and Europe)
A securities financing transaction is one in which securities are used to borrow cash or vice versa.
The Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (SFTR), came into force from 13 July 2020. Financial instruments that fall within the scope of the regulation are required to be reported to an authorised Trade Repository under Article 4 of the SFTR and UK SFTR (post-Brexit).
SFTR began as a European Union (EU) regulation which was introduced with the aim of reducing systemic risk in the Securities Financing Transaction (SFT) market by increasing transparency and surveillance. The United Kingdom also adopted the SFTR regulation as part of onshoring existing regulations prior to Brexit. This means that UK firms no longer need to SFTR report under ESMA but rather to an FCA approved trade repository.
- a repurchase transaction (repo);
- securities or commodities lending and securities or commodities borrowing;
- a buy-sell back transaction or sell-buy back transaction; and
- a margin lending transaction which is related to prime brokerage activity.
A repurchase transaction is a transaction governed by an agreement where
- a counterparty transfers securities, commodities or guaranteed rights relating to title to securities or commodities;
- that guarantee is issued by a recognised exchange which holds the rights to the securities or commodities; and
- the agreement does not allow a counterparty to pledge a particular security or commodity to more than one counterparty at a time.
No, both CFD and margin trading accounts are not within the scope of SFTR.
Both Financial Counterparties and Non-Financial Counterparties* have reporting obligations which cover the following:
- EU based entities including all its branches irrespective of where they are located; and
- Non-EU entities where the SFT is concluded by an EU based branch.
*Excluding NFC-.
Reporting obligations for non-financial counterparties (except NFC-) commenced on 11 January 2021.
Only Financial Counterparties have reporting obligations, which cover the following:
- All UK based entities; and
- Third country branches of UK based entities.
Non-Financial Counterparties don’t have reporting obligations.
Additionally, where a counterparty to a SFT is in scope of the SFTR reporting obligation, all legal entities that are involved in the chain of that transaction will need to be identified in the transaction report with a valid LEI, including the other counterparty and regardless of that counterparty’s jurisdiction.
Yes, although the AIFM is out of scope given it is a non-EU AIFM, the reporting obligation still lies with the EU AIF to do the SFTR reporting.
- Transaction reports – new and life cycle events
- Daily Central Counterparty (CCP) margin reports – reports to provide changes in initial and variation margin that a reporting counterparty posts with regards to CCP-cleared SFTs.
- Daily Collateral Re-use reports – reporting of the changes in the reuse of collateral, the reinvestment of cash or the margin lending funding sources.
If the transaction was entered between a financial counterparty and a small Non-Financial Counterparty (NFC-), the financial counterparty is required to report for both sides.
A NFC- means a Non-Financial Counterparty which does not exceed the limits of at least 2 of the 3 criteria listed below:
(a) balance sheet total: EUR20,000,000;
(b) net turnover: EUR40,000,000;
(c) average number of employees for the financial year: 250.
Reports are required to be submitted to an authorised TR by no later than one working day after the SFT has been made (T+1).
SFTR reports are required to be submitted in the XML file format in accordance with the ISO 20022 methodology.
Counterparties are to retain records of SFT transactions for a minimum of five years after the relevant SFT transaction has been terminated.
Matched Principal and Execution under MiFID II
(UK and Europe)
Not necessarily. A broker may hold a “125K” matched principal licence from a regulator. However, it may not meet the more stringent MiFID II definition of ‘matched principal trading’ in Article 4(38) of MiFID II. The MiFID II definition outlines three characteristics that must all be present for the definition to be met”:
- the facilitator is never exposed to market risk throughout the execution of the trade;
- both sides of the trade are executed simultaneously; and
- the trade concludes at a price where the facilitator does not make a profit or loss, other than commissions, fees or transaction charges that were previously disclosed.
It is essentially a form of dealing on own account along with all other kinds of dealing on your own account, or otherwise in a principal capacity.
Trades conducted by most CFD/ FX brokers would not meet these requirements and therefore not be considered matched principal trades. See our article on this subject for more information.
Yes, if you are not engaging in “matched principal” trading per the MiFID II definition, you will be required to report transactions with liquidity providers as well as transactions with clients.
Under EMIR you may have been relying on your liquidity providers to report your trades. This relief is not available for MiFID II.
Two reports need to be submitted. That is:
- One report for the client side; and
- one report for the liquidity provider side
are required to be made where you are not engaging in matched principal trading as defined in MiFID II (described in the question above).
Even if you hold a “125K” limited licence and engage in matched principal trading from a regulatory perspective, you may not meet the more stringent MiFID II definition of matched principal trading. In this case, you would be required to submit two transaction reports including a separate report between you as the broker and the liquidity provider.
Where a client or other person from outside the investment firm makes a decision about execution by providing instructions to this effect, you should populate field 59 (execution within firm) with “NORE”. Otherwise, you will need to report the natural person identifier or an algorithm code of the person or system respectively making the investment decision.
Field 57 (investment decision within firm) will need to be populated with the natural person identifier or an algorithm code, based on whether the investment decision was made by a natural person or algorithm.
A firm with a 125K matched principal licence operating on an STP model through which orders are not undertaken simultaneously would be required to submit two transaction reports. The reports would be populated to show that the broker was dealing on own account and an algorithm was responsible for the execution and the investment decision.
ASIC
(Australia)
Review our article here to determine whether it is the trust or trustee which should obtain an LEI for your ASIC OTC derivative reporting purposes. Please note that relief from reporting counterparty LEIs for ASIC OTC derivative reporting has ended.
Following changes to the ASIC Rules in October 2024, brokers with retail clients have to report both the collateral that they received from their clients and also collateral posted to any other counterparties. Single-sided relief may apply to your hedging trades provided your hedging counterparty makes their own report of the relevant translation subject to certain conditions being met.
In cases where your client is an individual, the ASIC reporting rules require a unique ID and the client’s legal name. No phone numbers, emails or addresses are required in the reports.
Under the ASIC OTC derivatives reporting regime, Margin FX is reported under foreign exchange derivatives which is in-scope for reporting under the 2024 Rules.
Until the commencement of the new ASIC trade reporting rules on 21 October 2024, a reporting entity received a safe harbour benefit when it appoints one or more persons (each a delegate) to report OTC derivatives on its behalf. Since ASIC Rewrite commenced, this is no longer be available. We encourage firms to review any delegated arrangements they have in place and ensure proper monitoring and reconciliation is being performed.
Single-sided reporting is where only one party is required to report under the ASIC Derivative Transaction Rules (Reporting) 2024 (Reporting Rules). Without single-sided reporting relief, the Reporting Rules require both parties to report.
ASIC has made changes to the single-sided relief provisions under the 2024 Rules which commenced from 20 October 2024. Read more about the current single-sided reporting provisions and how they are changing in 2025 here.
To obtain the benefit of the current relief which is in place until 20 October 2025, the two requirements to satisfy are:
1) your gross notional outstanding position must be less than A$5 billion for 2 consecutive quarters; and
2) the other counterparty is already required to or has agreed to report.
From 21 October 2025, the requirements change in slight, but important ways. Please see our dedicated page on ASIC’s Single-Sided Reporting relief
The single-sided reporting relief applies to:
(a) authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs);
(b) Australian financial services licensees (AFSLs);
(c) clearing and settlement facility licensees; and
(d) exempt foreign licensees,
with total gross notional outstanding positions across all OTC derivatives of less than A$5 billion at the end of each of two consecutive calendar quarters.
There will be some changes that apply to the single-sided relief from 20 October 2025 onwards. Although the relief will still be applicable, ASIC regulated firms will need to report trades with foreign firms irrespective of what their counterparty’s reporting requirements are. This is as a result of ‘prescribed’ repositories being removed as an allowable reporting destination – from 20 October 2025, only ‘licensed authorised derivative trade repositories (ADTRs)’ can be used as listed on ASIC’s website. For more information on the changes and to single-sided relief in general, please see our dedicated page on ASIC’s Single-Sided Reporting relief
OTC derivative issuers as reporting entities – to whom should they report under Australian law?
The answer generally depends on how the OTC derivative issuer is set up – whether it is:
(1) an Australian entity;
(2) a foreign subsidiary of an Australian entity where the Australian entity is an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) or an Australian financial services (AFS) licensee;
(3) a foreign ADI that has a branch located in Australia or
(4) a foreign company that is required to be registered under Div 2 of Pt 5B.2 of the Corporations Act.
(1) Australian entity (i.e. entity, including a corporation, partnership, managed investment scheme or trust, incorporated or formed in Australia)
An Australian entity must report information about all the derivatives to which it is counterparty (subject to the proposed single-sided reporting relief for certain transactions/positions for certain entities).
An Australian entity must report to a trade repository that is licensed by ASIC under the Corporations Act. There are currently only two trade repositories that are licensed by ASIC under the Corporations Act and on the ASIC website (referred to as ‘Licensed ADTRs’).
(2) Foreign subsidiary of an Australian entity, where the Australian entity is an ADI or an AFS licensee
A foreign subsidiary of an Australian entity, where the Australian entity is an ADI or an AFS licensee, must report information about all derivative transactions to which it is a counterparty (subject to the proposed single-sided reporting relief for certain transactions/positions for certain entities).
Such a reporting entity can report to a licensed trade repository or a prescribed trade repository on an ongoing basis (subject to certain conditions being met) – see below.
(3) Foreign ADI that has a branch located in Australia
A foreign ADI that has a branch located in Australia must report information about all derivative transactions booked to the profit and loss account of the foreign ADI, or entered into by the foreign ADI, in Australia (subject to the proposed single-sided reporting relief for certain transactions/positions for certain entities).
Such a reporting entity can report to a licensed trade repository or a prescribed trade repository on an ongoing basis (subject to certain conditions being met) – see below.
(4) Foreign company that is required to be registered under Div 2 of Pt 5B.2 of the Corporations Act
A foreign company required to be registered under the Corporations Act must report information about all derivative transactions booked to the profit and loss account of the foreign company, or entered into by the foreign company, in Australia (subject to the proposed single-sided reporting relief for certain transactions/positions for certain entities).
Such a reporting entity can report to a licensed trade repository or a prescribed trade repository on an ongoing basis (subject to certain conditions being met) – see below.
For a reporting entity referred to in (2), (3) or (4) above, such entity may (instead of reporting to a trade repository licensed by ASIC) report to a prescribed trade repository on an ongoing basis by reporting information under the requirements of a foreign jurisdiction, where those requirements are substantially equivalent to the requirements that would otherwise apply to the reporting entity.
As at 2025, the jurisdictions that ASIC considers to have implemented reporting obligations that are substantially equivalent to the Derivative Transaction Rules (Reporting) are:
- Canada;
- the European Union;
- Hong Kong;
- Japan;
- Singapore; and
- the United States.
ASIC has made two determinations prescribing several overseas trade repositories. These are as listed below in aggregate, but note that they will be withdrawn on 20 October 2025:
- DTCC Data Repository (U.S.) LLC
- Derivatives Repository Ltd
- DTCC Data Repository (Japan) KK
- DTCC Data Repository (Singapore) Pte Ltd
- DTCC Data Repository (Ireland) Plc
- UnaVista TRADEcho B.V. (now known as LSEG Regulatory Reporting B.V.)
- UnaVista Limited (now known as LSEG Regulatory Reporting Limited), and
- the Monetary Authority appointed under section 5A of the Exchange Fund Ordinance of Hong Kong.
ASIC noted in the Report 482 that many Australian Financial Services Licensees incorrectly use an intermediary authorisation licensing exemption under s911A (2)(b) of Corporations Act 2001 to facilitate the issuing of retail OTC derivative products by their authorised representatives (ARs) when this is not permitted.
An AFSL holder can only appoint an AR to provide a financial service on the broker’s behalf as an agent, and not provide a financial service on its own behalf. This means the AR is not allowed to run a trading platform where they will be acting as an issuer or market maker in derivatives.
A legal arrangement we see sometimes is where an AFSL holder operates a trading platform using branding (and a registered “trading name”) similar to the AR’s company name. In this arrangement, the AFSL holder must remain as the issuer and market maker of derivatives, and therefore the counterparty to the customers. The broker therefore has the obligation to report relevant transactions to an Australian Derivatives Trade Repository (ADTR).
Where a broker has an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) with appropriate authorisations to enter into an OTC derivative transaction with a customer (generally including issuer and market maker in derivatives), they will be counterparty to derivative transactions with its customers. The AFSL holder will then be the Reporting Entity who has reporting obligations under the ASIC Derivative Transaction Rules (Reporting) 2024.
Yes, valuation updates are required for existing open positions.
There are currently only two trade repositories that are licensed by ASIC under the Corporations Act and on the ASIC website (referred to as ‘Licensed ADTRs’).
After multiple consultation papers spread over a couple of years, ASIC’s final packages of updated Derivatives Transaction Rules came into effect on 20 October 2024, which at the time, was referred to as ‘ASIC Rewrite’. ASIC’s reporting rules have been harmonised to global standards.
The first set of updates to the ASIC Derivative Transaction Rules (Reporting) 2024 (2024 Rules) took effect on 21 October 2024. Further changes start on 20 October 2025.
Yes. There are a number of new fields including UPI and UTI which have been required since 21 October 2024.
ASIC is authorised to penalise licensed firms for failure to report under the ASIC Derivative Transactions Rules (Reporting) 2024. Penalties include monetary fines - previous enforcement by ASIC has seen fines of over $500,000. Each penalty unit for breach Australian Government laws is currently $313. See our summary of ASIC penalties.
We are of the view that Crypto CFDs or derivatives with cryptocurrency underliers will fall under the definition of derivatives as it has been recently clarified that they are reported as a commodity under the ASIC regime. They may even be reportable as an equity or interest rate asset class if there are certain equity or debt characteristics. For more information, read more here.
MAS - Singapore
MAS Reporting is the term given to the requirement by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for certain firms to report details of their derivatives transactions to a trade repository on a T + 2 basis. This requirement was enacted in the Securities and Futures Act (Reporting of Derivatives Contracts) Regulation, 2013.
Please see our MAS reporting page here to find a detailed explanation on the OTC derivatives that need to be reported under the MAS regime and who has the reporting obligation.
MAS provides an exemption for Exchange Traded Derivatives (ETDs) including futures contracts and block futures contracts. Hence, only over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are required to be reported whilst exchange traded futures and options contracts are exempt.
Yes. Trades with retail counterparties are exempted from reporting, noting that the MAS regime does not refer to ‘retail’ clients per se. Under the MAS regulations, there is an exemption for reporting derivative contracts entered into between a capital markets service (CMS) licensee and a person who is not an accredited investor or institutional investor. This means derivative contracts (that are in-scope) between CMS licensees and its expert investors need to be reported.
Yes. CFDs and other rolling derivative products are required to be reported. Since the expiration dates are rolling, daily updates of transactions with the updated expiration dates should occur.
Canada
In Canada, there are 13 provincial regulators who are separately responsible for securities regulation in their respective provinces. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) is an organisation that coordinates across the provinces. Canadian reporting requires firms to report OTC derivatives to a Trade Repository (TR).
The OTC derivatives trade reporting regulation, which has been individually approved by each province, includes requirements for:
- Reporting of real-time price dissemination to provide transparency in the market; and
- Transaction and valuation reporting to monitor systemic and operational risk in the market.
Counterparties which are subject to reporting obligations may delegate their Canadian reporting, however it must be ensured that there is no reporting duplication. When counterparties delegate reporting, they retain the responsibility for the accuracy and timely submission of the reports.
Derivatives transactions involving at least one local counterparty are subject to reporting. The local counterparty is responsible for ensuring all reporting obligations have been fulfilled.
However, a local counterparty is under no obligation to report the derivatives transaction if it:
- is not a derivatives dealer or a recognised/exempt clearing agency, and
- has less than $500,000 aggregate notional value of outstanding transactions.
The ‘local counterparty’ is a counterparty to a transaction if it is any of the below:
- a person or company organised under the laws of the province or that has its head office or principal place of business in the province;
- an affiliate of such an entity in the province and the entity is responsible for all or substantially all of the affiliate’s liabilities;
- registered as a derivatives dealer pursuant to the securities laws; or
- registered in an alternative category to the derivatives dealer category.
Designated trade repositories recognised in Canadian provinces, pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 96-101 Trade Repositories and Derivatives Data Reporting (MI 96-101), include:
• KOR Reporting Inc.
• Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.
• DTCC Data Repository (U.S.) LLC
• ICE Trade Vault, LLC
Note there will be amendments to MI 96-101 which will come into effect when Canada Rewrite commences on 25 July 2025.
- Exchange traded derivatives (ETD)
- FX spot trades which are physically settled within T+2
- Physically delivered commodity derivatives
Reports are required to be submitted to an authorised TR by no later than one working day after the transaction has been made (T+1). Please note our FAQ: ‘What do the updated regulations deal with?’ below, as there will be slight changes coming into effect under Canada Rewrite to the reporting timeframe for certain entities.
In July 2024, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a final set of changes referred to, collectively, as the ‘Provincial Trade Reporting Rules’. These changes are referred to as ‘Canada Rewrite’ and are made to the:
- OTC trade reporting rules relevant to the Canadian provinces and territories; and
- the companion policies of the provinces and territories.
Canada Rewrite also includes changes to the Ontario Rules (i.e. OSC Rule 91-507 Trade Repositories and Derivatives Data Reporting) with the intent to align with global harmonisation of the trade reporting standards.
At the same time, the CSA also published a Coordinated Blanket Order 93-930 (Blanket Order) which addresses matters concerning relief afforded under the ‘National Instrument 93-101 Derivatives: Business Conduct’ (Business Conduct Rules).
A new technical manual has also been created to provide guidance on how to consistently report in accordance with the Provincial Trade Reporting Rules. The technical manual is called the ‘CSA Derivatives Data Technical Manual’ – it includes guidance and examples on administrative matters e.g. format and values for reporting aligned with international data standards
There were originally 4 separate technical manuals for each of the provinces and territories but in the end, a single technical manual which applies to all Canadian jurisdictions was published. This was done in an attempt to minimise regulatory burden and allow for consistency in reporting across the Canadian provinces and territories.
Canada Rewrite will come into force on 25 July 2025.
Canada Rewrite will implement the below changes:
- Reporting timeframe: Extension of reporting on a T + 2 basis for non-dealers, clearing entities or affiliates such entities.
- Harmonisation of ‘local counterparty’ definition: OTC derivatives of a Canadian ‘local counterparty’, are to be reported to a designated TR. Further harmonisation of the definition has occurred across the Provincial Trade Reporting Rules.
- UTI: Harmonisation long with global standard on the UTI hierarchy.
- Reporting hierarchy: The existing hierarchy in the Ontario Rules has been changed to provide that a ‘financial derivatives dealer’ will be the reporting counterparty in its trades with a non-financial derivatives dealer. If there are two non-dealers, the parties can provide in writing the details as to which of them has the reporting obligation.
- Notice to Regulator regarding errors and omissions: Notice is to be provided by a reporting counterparty to the regulator as soon as practicable after discovery, provided it is no later than the end of the business day after the discovery. The discovery needs to be in relation to a significant error or omission with respect to trade reporting. Note that the Canadian local counterparty must also notify the reporting counterparty of any error or omission, if it also discovers there being one. The companion policy provides further details on how to deal with these.
- Derivatives dealer specific reporting: Valuation, collateral and margin data is to be reported by derivatives dealers.
- Position level reporting: Lifecycle event data may be reported as position level data for CFDs where each trade in the reported position is fungible with the other identical trades in the reported position and there is no fixed trade expiry or is a commodity derivative.
- Updates to data elements: This includes the addition of IOSCO suggested critical data elements and removal of data fields relevant to excess collateral and do not align with the data fields under CFTC rules.
- Transferring or Porting to different TRs: There is now a process where a reporting counterparty can transfer or port to another designated TR.
There are 2 exemptions available:
1) Certain investment funds (i.e. referred to as ‘eligible derivative parties’ for the purpose of Business Conduct Rules) will be exempt from the requirements under the NI, if they transact with an investment fund that is either managed or advise by a foreign adviser or manager which would be considered to be equivalent to one that is registered in Canada.
2) Senior managers of derivatives dealers can wait until the reporting of the calendar year for 2025 is required, to issue their annual Senior Derivatives Manager Compliance Reports to their board of directors. This can be done if the derivatives dealer complies with the remainder of the Business Conduct Rules and the 2025 annual report also covers the period: 28 September 2024 to 31 December 2024
Continue to refer to the CSA’s Staff Notice 96-303 Derivatives Data Reporting Transition Guidance (published on 10 November 2022) (Transition Notice) regarding trade reporting compliance. The Transition Notice allows for coordination of compliance with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) swap data reporting rules.
Reporting Products
A Contract For Difference (CFD) is essentially a contract between an investor and a financial firm. At the end of the contract, the parties exchange the difference between the opening and closing prices of a specified financial instrument, including shares.
In Australia, CFDs are reported as equity derivatives in view of the underlying instrument. CFDs over other asset classes will be reported differently – TRAction can help you to determine the requirements.
In UK & Europe, depending upon the underlying asset class, CFDs are required to be reported under EMIR Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 or Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2004/65/EU.
In both Canada and MAS, CFDs also have to be reported.
All non-Israeli firms who deal in Israeli Shekel derivatives have reporting obligations to the Bank of Israel on top of their standard jurisdictional reporting requirements. All non-Israeli firms who report above the threshold are required to report all OTC Derivatives on FX and rates which reference the Shekel.
The reporting threshold is equated to the daily value of Shekel trades executed, on a rolling period of one year (being 250 days in a year). Where the average daily value of Shekel trades executed is in excess of USD15m brokers are required to report. The reporting requirement will continue until another year has passed where the daily value of Shekel trades has not met the threshold.
The following is a list of reportable instruments where they are Shekel based, involve Shekels or reference a Shekel yield or interest rate:
- FX spot
- FX forwards
- FX swaps
- FX CFDs/spreadbets
- Inflation swaps
- Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs)
- Interest Rate Swaps (IRSs)
- Coupon swaps
- Basis swaps
- Cross-currency swaps
- FX options (both deliverable and non-deliverable)
- Inflation options
- Rates options, caps and floors
Shekel reporting requirements are mandated under chapter 39(b) of the bank of Israel Law 5770-2010 and came into effect on 1 January 2017.
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