Swap Execution Facility

SEFs are an integral part of the Dodd-Frank Act. David Easthope, Research Director with Celent’s Capital Markets Group looks at the development of these execution facilities and explains the likely challenges the market faces in implementing the SEF electronic trading architecture in the coming months. 

Background

Clients to Benefit from Increased Price Transparency and Liquidity

ASPone Ltd is gearing up for the much awaited CFTC regulation relating to the Security-based Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs). The final rule issue is due in July and so any organisations involved in trading swaps and delivering associated functionality need to remain flexible and be ready. The exact rules and implementation timescales are yet to be finalised but the impact on organisations dealing with US counterparties is sure to be significant. 

Bloomberg readies for 2011 launch of Swaps Execution Facility

Bloomberg Fixed-Income Trading executives today announced that they have broken through the $1 trillion mark in electronically traded interest-rate swaps and credit default swaps for 2011. 

Six Firms, Based in the US and Europe, Complete Both Index and Single-Name Swaps

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for U.S. and European high-grade corporate bonds, emerging markets bonds and other fixed income securities, today announced the completion of multiple credit default swap trades between J.P. Morgan and six investor clients over the MarketAxess trading platform, highlighting the participants' adaptation to proposed regulatory reforms.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted unanimously to propose rules defining security-based swap execution facilities (SEFs) and establishing their registration requirements, as well as their duties and core principles.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act authorized the SEC to implement a regulatory framework for security-based swaps, which currently trade exclusively in the over-the-counter markets with little transparency or oversight.

David Weiss, an independent research analyst and consultant, offers his take on how regulatory reform is evolving with regards to recent proposals for use of swaps execution facilities and central clearing of OTC derivatives.

Register for this Complimentary Webinar November 16, 2010 

Central Clearing OTC Derivatives in a New Regulatory Environment: Understanding use of CCP Clearing under Dodd-Frank Legislation

The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed rules intended to mitigate conflicts of interest for security-based swap clearing agencies, security-based swap execution facilities, and national securities exchanges that post security-based swaps or make them available for trading.

Prior to passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the over-the-counter derivatives market was largely unregulated. The new law fills a number of significant regulatory gaps and gives the SEC important new tools to better protect investors.

Good morning. I thank the Wholesale Markets Brokers’ Association for inviting me to speak at the “Swap Execution Facility Conference.” Swap execution facilities – or SEFs – comprise a new category of trading platforms that was established in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In so doing, Congress sought to bring greater transparency, more efficient markets and better pricing for end users and to lower risk in the financial system.