Clearing, Reporting, and Trade Execution Requirements

Work with US swaps involves submitting covered swaps to a clearing organization, publishing transactions and prices, reporting the details of trades, and executing on a trading venue. The question is which of these steps is required, and under what conditions.

The three requirements and their basis

US swaps are subject to three requirements under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA): clearing, reporting, and execution on a trading venue.

A swap that is subject to clearing must be submitted for clearing to a registered derivatives clearing organization (DCO) or to a DCO that is exempt from registration¹. A swap subject to that clearing requirement must be executed on a designated contract market (DCM) or a swap execution facility (SEF)².

Transaction and pricing data are made publicly available, and all swaps are reported to a swap data repository (SDR)³.

These are requirements for swaps, which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversees. Security-based swaps fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)⁴. An overview of the three requirements is in Dodd-Frank Act Title VII.

An SDR is a person that collects and maintains information and records on the transactions, positions, and terms of swaps entered into by third parties, and provides a centralized recordkeeping facility for swaps. A DCM is a board of trade that the CFTC has designated under Part 38 of its rules⁹.

The provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) were checked against the eCFR as of October 1, 2026.

The clearing requirement: scope and exceptions

How covered swaps are determined and which classes are covered

The CFTC reviews on an ongoing basis whether to make a class of swaps subject to the clearing requirement. A DCO can also submit swaps it plans to clear to the CFTC. Both routes include a public comment period of at least 30 days¹⁰. In deciding, the CFTC considers the outstanding notional exposure, trading liquidity and pricing data, the clearing framework and its capacity, the effect on mitigating systemic risk, the effect on competition, and legal certainty if a clearing organization or clearing member becomes insolvent¹¹.

The interest rate swaps subject to the clearing requirement fall into four types: fixed-to-floating, basis, forward rate agreement (FRA), and overnight index swap (OIS). Credit default swap (CDS) indices are also covered. Because fixed-to-floating and OIS cover many currencies, the table below splits each into two rows. In the eCFR as of October 1, 2026, the classes were as follows¹².

* The fixed-to-floating rows for CAD (CDOR) and MXN (TIIE-BANXICO) are not in Section 50.4 of the eCFR as of October 8, 2026.

Each CDS index is covered for the terms and series that the rule specifies, with no tranches. Each class also has a range of terms. For the yen, only OIS is covered: swaps referencing TONA with a term from 7 days to 30 years and no optionality¹³. US dollar fixed-to-floating swaps are not among the classes in this table.

An amendment published on September 8, 2026 revised the interest rate swap classes to account for the transition from CDOR to CORRA for CAD and from TIIE to TIIE de Fondeo (F-TIIE) for MXN. Its effective date was October 8, 2026¹⁴.

Where to submit for clearing, and compliance dates

A person that executes a covered swap must submit it to an eligible DCO that will accept it, as soon as technologically practicable and no later than the end of the day of execution. A person that is not a clearing member satisfies the requirement by submitting the swap to a futures commission merchant or clearing member by the same deadline. A swap executed after 4:00 p.m. local time, or on a day that is not a business day, is treated as executed on the next business day for that party. The requirement also includes making reasonable efforts to determine whether a swap is covered¹⁵. DCOs publish on their websites lists of the swaps they accept for clearing, and the CFTC maintains a current list of the swaps required to be cleared and of the eligible DCOs¹⁶.

When a swap dealer or major swap participant (MSP) enters into a swap subject to the clearing requirement, if its counterparty is none of a swap dealer, an MSP, a security-based swap dealer, or a major security-based swap participant, the counterparty has the sole right to select the clearing organization¹⁷.

The CFTC sets compliance dates for each class. The deadline can be 90 days from the publication of a determination for swaps between Category 1 entities, 180 days for swaps involving a Category 2 entity, and 270 days for other swaps for which no party can elect an exception¹⁸.

Category 1 includes swap dealers, MSPs, and active funds, and Category 2 includes commodity pools, other funds, and persons predominantly engaged in banking or financial activities¹⁹. The actual compliance dates are in the rule's table, and some of them are as follows²⁰.

Exceptions to the clearing requirement

The clearing requirement has the following exceptions and exemptions. Each applies only if its conditions are met. The term financial entity, which appears in the table, includes swap dealers, MSPs, commodity pools, private funds, employee benefit plans, and persons predominantly engaged in banking or financial activities²¹.

The institutions covered by the small-bank exception are banks and savings associations (each with deposit insurance), Farm Credit System institutions, and insured credit unions. Total assets are measured at the end of the most recent fiscal year. An institution within this exception is excluded from the definition of financial entity and can elect the end-user exception.

The CDFI exception requires total notional of USD 200 million or less over the prior 365 days and 10 or fewer trades over 365 days. The exception between affiliates also requires a centralized risk management program and other conditions, and covered swaps with third parties have separate conditions.

Only a party that meets the conditions decides whether to use the end-user exception³⁰.

Figure description

The figure checks, in order, the table of classes and its terms, the compliance date for the class, and whether the trade has an elected exception or an exemption. For the first two, a "No" means the swap is not covered; for the last, a "Yes" (an exception or exemption) does. A swap that passes all three is, in principle, covered. Compliance dates can differ by class and by type of party, and are set by the rule's table.

Consider a hypothetical example in which Bank T and Company Q are both US persons, the conditions for extraterritorial application are not set, and the swaps are executed after the compliance date. The yen OIS in examples 1 and 3 has no optionality, is not a dual-currency swap or a swap with a contingent notional amount, and meets the class's other specifications.

In example 3, Company Q is not a financial entity, uses the swap to hedge commercial risk, and provides to an SDR how it meets its financial obligations. The other conditions of the exception are not set.

The reporting requirements: public reporting and SDR reporting

Reporting has two layers. Part 43 provides for reporting so that an SDR can publish transaction and price data and thereby help price discovery. Part 45 provides for reporting to collect the details of swaps in an SDR³³.

Creation data is reported by the end of the next business day after execution if the SEF, DCM, swap dealer, MSP, or DCO reports, and by the end of the second business day for any other reporter. Life cycle events are due by the end of the next business day if the reporting counterparty is a swap dealer, MSP, or DCO, and otherwise by the end of the second business day.

Data on a corporate event for the non-reporting side is due by the end of the second business day even when the reporting counterparty is a swap dealer, MSP, or DCO³⁷. For a swap whose price is set after execution, the reporting counterparty may delay reporting until the earlier of the price being set and 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the day of execution. If the price is not set by 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the day of execution, the transaction and pricing data other than the price and any other data not yet determined must be reported by that time³⁸.

SDRs publish the public reporting data, and the CEA requires that the published information not identify the parties³⁹. As examples of transactions outside public reporting, the rule lists internal transactions between wholly owned subsidiaries, portfolio compression, and swaps by which a DCO handles the default of a clearing member³⁴. The notional amount that is published is rounded and capped at a cap size for each class⁴⁰.

If the reporting counterparty is a swap dealer, an MSP, or a DCO, it reports valuation data to the SDR every business day, and if it is a swap dealer or an MSP, it also reports collateral data⁴¹.

Figure description

The "reporting party" is the SEF or DCM if the swap was executed on one, and otherwise the reporting counterparty or another party. Public reporting and reporting of creation data are separate requirements, so they do not necessarily happen in the order of the arrows.

The reporting counterparty

A swap executed on a SEF or DCM is reported by that SEF or DCM. For other swaps, the following table determines which party reports⁴². For public reporting, swap dealers and MSPs have priority unless the parties agree otherwise, and if neither is present, the parties designate the reporting party before execution⁴³.

"U.S. person" in the table is a term used in Section 45.8, and the text of Part 45 has no definition. In the CFTC's rules for swap dealers and similar persons (Section 23.23), the definition of "U.S. person" there includes, besides natural persons residing in the United States, corporations, trusts, investment vehicles, and similar entities organized under US law or with their principal place of business in the United States⁴⁴.

The data on a swap continues to be reported to the one SDR that first received a report, unless the reporting counterparty changes SDRs⁴⁵.

Block trades and large trades

Publication of large trades is delayed. The CEA requires the CFTC to set by rule the thresholds for large trades and the appropriate delay for their publication, taking into account whether public disclosure materially reduces market liquidity⁴⁸.

Part 43 has two types. A block trade is a swap listed on a SEF or DCM with a notional amount at or above the minimum block size. It is executed either on a system of the SEF other than its order book, or away from the SEF or DCM in accordance with the rules and procedures of that market. A large notional off-facility swap is a swap executed away from a SEF or DCM, with a notional amount at or above the minimum block size, that is not a block trade⁴⁹. Either type receives a publication delay when the parties elect it. For a block trade, the reporting counterparty tells the SEF or DCM of the election, and for a large notional off-facility swap it tells the SDR⁵⁰.

The delay in publication depends on the type of trade, as follows⁵¹.

The CFTC sets the minimum block size for each class of swaps and publishes it on its website. The sizes are updated at least once a year and, unless the CFTC website says otherwise, take effect on the first day of the second month after publication. Equity swaps have no minimum block size and so cannot be block trades or large notional off-facility swaps. The minimum is zero for some classes⁵².

Deep diveThe 67% calculation that sets the minimum block size

When the CFTC updates the minimum block size, it applies the "67% notional amount calculation" in the following steps to one year of SDR data for the classes that the rule specifies⁵³.

1. For each class, select at least one year of reliable SDR data, convert it to a common currency or unit, and build a trimmed data set. This is the set that remains after removing transactions with unusually large notional amounts, defined as those more than two or three standard deviations above the mean of the logarithms of the notional amounts (two for the other commodity asset class and three for the other asset classes)⁵⁴.
2. Multiply the total notional amount of the set by 67%.
3. Sort the transactions from the smallest notional amount to the largest, and add them up until the running total reaches or exceeds the value from step 2.
4. Round the notional amount of the transaction at which the running total is reached up to two significant digits, and use it as the minimum block size.

The same calculation with 67% replaced by 75% or 50% is also provided for⁵³.

The trade execution requirement: MAT, SEF, and DCM

Determination that a swap is available to trade (MAT)

A swap subject to the clearing requirement must be executed by the parties on a DCM or on a SEF (including a SEF that is exempt from registration). The requirement does not apply to a swap that no DCM or SEF has made available to trade, or to a swap for which a clearing exception, such as the end-user exception, is elected⁵⁵.

The determination that makes a swap available for trading is abbreviated MAT (made available to trade). The rules use the phrase "make a swap available to trade." For a SEF to make the determination, it must submit the determination to the CFTC as a rule under the Part 40 procedures, and it must have the swap listed on its own trading system. The factors it considers are whether there are willing buyers and sellers, the frequency and size of transactions, the trading volume, the number and types of market participants, the bid-ask spread, and the usual number of resting firm or indicative bids and offers⁵⁶.

Once the swap of one SEF or DCM is determined to be available to trade, the other SEFs and DCMs must also comply with the requirement when they list or offer that swap. The CFTC can revoke a determination when it finds that no SEF or DCM lists the swap⁵⁷. The requirement starts on the later of the compliance date under Section 50.25 and 30 days after the determination is deemed approved or certified⁵⁸.

Registration of SEFs and DCMs

A person that operates a facility on which multiple participants can trade swaps with multiple counterparties must register as a SEF or a DCM. A SEF must, at a minimum, provide an order book⁵⁹.

Methods of execution

A transaction subject to the trade execution requirement (a "Required Transaction" in the rule) that is not a block trade is executed on a SEF by one of the following two methods⁶⁰.

A request for quote has the following conditions. The three participants must not be affiliates of the requester or of one another. When the requester receives the first response, the firm bids and offers on the order book must also be shown, and the requester can execute against the order book as well. Participants must have equal priority in the request and in responding.

When a Required Transaction is executed on the order book and a broker or dealer, under a prior arrangement, takes the other side of a customer order, the SEF must require a delay of at least 15 seconds between the two orders. The same applies when the broker or dealer crosses two customer orders. The SEF can vary the 15 seconds according to the liquidity of the swap and other factors⁶¹. A swap that is not subject to the requirement can be executed by any method⁶². For a package transaction, in which several transactions are executed simultaneously at a single price, the restrictions on methods may not apply to some of the transactions, depending on how the package is made up⁶³.

How extraterritorial application works

The swaps provisions added by Title VII do not apply to activities outside the United States. They do apply in two cases: (1) the activity has a direct and significant connection with activities in, or effect on, commerce of the United States, or (2) it contravenes rules that the CFTC prescribes to prevent evasion⁶⁶.

The rule that determines the reporting counterparty provides that even when neither party is a US person, the parties agree on the reporting side. This applies to a swap that is executed on a SEF or DCM, executed in the United States, or cleared through a DCO⁶⁷.

The clearing exception between affiliates requires that each affiliate, when it enters into a covered swap with a third party, comply with one of the following. The options are a US clearing requirement, a foreign clearing requirement that the CFTC has found to be comparable to the US requirement and comprehensive, an exception or exemption, or clearing at an eligible clearing organization. Suppose one of the affiliates is located in Australia, Canada, the EU, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom. If each affiliate (or a third party that directly or indirectly holds a majority interest in both) pays and collects full variation margin daily on all swaps between the affiliates, this condition is treated as met⁶⁸.

For Japanese financial institutions, yen OIS (TONA) is a class subject to the US clearing requirement, with a compliance date of September 23, 2022.

What this page does not cover

This page does not cover the method of trading on a DCM. This page does not cover the list of swaps currently determined to be available to trade. This page does not cover the CFTC's interpretation of extraterritorial application or the comparability assessment with Japan's regime. This page does not cover the deadline for public reporting of changes after execution.

Notes

1. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(1)(A). ↩

2. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(8)(A). ↩

3. 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(13)(A)-(C) (public reporting) and (G) (reporting to an SDR). ↩

4. 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(1)(G)(i) (this clause does not limit the jurisdiction the SEC has over security-based swaps and similar instruments). ↩

5. 17 CFR § 50.2(a). ↩

6. 17 CFR § 43.3(a)(2), (3) and (5). ↩

7. 17 CFR § 45.3(a) and (b). For a swap created by clearing, § 45.8(i). ↩ ↩²

8. 17 CFR § 37.1 (Part 37 applies to a SEF under CEA section 5h) and § 37.9(a). ↩

9. 17 CFR § 1.3, "Swap data repository" and "Contract market; designated contract market". ↩

10. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(2)(A) and (B). A public comment period of at least 30 days applies on each review route ((A)(ii) and (B)(iii)(III)). ↩

11. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(2)(D)(ii)(I)-(V). ↩

12. 17 CFR § 50.4(a), Tables 1-4, and (b). ↩

13. 17 CFR § 50.4(a), Table 4 (OIS). For Yen (JPY), the TONA index has a term of 7 days to 30 years, and optionality, dual currencies and conditional notional amounts are all No. ↩

14. Federal Register document 2026-18212 (91 FR 57063; published September 8, 2026, effective October 8, 2026). ↩

15. 17 CFR § 50.2(a)-(c) and the definition of "Day of execution" in § 50.1. ↩

16. 17 CFR § 50.3(a) and (b). ↩

17. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(7)(E)(i). ↩

18. 17 CFR § 50.25(b)(1)-(3). ↩

19. 17 CFR § 50.25(a) and (b). Paragraph (b) provides that the CFTC may apply this compliance schedule when it makes a determination. ↩

20. 17 CFR § 50.26(a), Table 1 (interest rate swaps). The EUR, AUD, CHF, JPY, and USD rows are used. The compliance dates for CDS classes are in Table 2 of paragraph (b) of the same section. ↩

21. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(7)(C)(i)(I)-(VIII). ↩

22. 17 CFR § 50.50(a), (b)(1) and (c). This corresponds to CEA section 2(h)(7)(A). ↩

23. 17 CFR § 50.53(a)-(d). ↩

24. 17 CFR § 50.78(b) and § 50.79(b). ↩

25. 17 CFR § 50.51(a)-(c). ↩

26. 17 CFR § 50.77(b). ↩

27. 17 CFR § 50.52(a) and (b). ↩

28. 17 CFR § 50.75(a) and (b). ↩

29. 17 CFR § 50.76(a) and (b). ↩

30. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(7)(B). ↩

31. 17 CFR § 50.50(b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3). The reporting counterparty is determined under § 45.8. ↩

32. 17 CFR § 45.2(b). ↩

33. 17 CFR § 43.1(a) (enhancing transparency and price discovery) and 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(13)(B) and (G). ↩

34. 17 CFR § 43.2, "Publicly reportable swap transaction". Examples of exclusions are in paragraphs (2) and (3) of that definition. ↩ ↩²

35. 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(13)(G). ↩

36. 17 CFR § 43.3(a)(1) and (b)(1). ↩

37. 17 CFR § 45.4(b)(1) and (c)(1). ↩ ↩²

38. 17 CFR § 43.3(a)(4)(i). ↩

39. 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(13)(E)(i) and 17 CFR § 43.3(b)(1). ↩

40. 17 CFR § 43.4(e) (rounding and cap size) and § 43.2, "Cap size". ↩

41. 17 CFR § 45.4(c)(2). ↩

42. 17 CFR § 45.8(a)-(e) and (i). Paragraph (e) takes precedence over (a)-(d). ↩

43. 17 CFR § 43.3(a)(3)(i)-(v). ↩

44. 17 CFR § 23.23(a)(23). Section 45.8 uses "U.S. person", but the text of Part 45 has no definition. ↩

45. 17 CFR § 45.10, the introductory text, (a)(2) and (b)(2). ↩

46. 17 CFR § 45.14(a)(1)(i) and (a)(2). ↩

47. 17 CFR § 45.14(b)(1), (b)(4) and (b)(5). ↩

48. 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(13)(E)(ii), (iii) and (iv). ↩

49. 17 CFR § 43.2, "Block trade" and "Large notional off-facility swap". ↩

50. 17 CFR § 43.6(h)(1) and (2). ↩

51. 17 CFR § 43.5(d), (e), (f), (g) and (h). Paragraph (e)(1) provides that (e) does not apply to a swap for which an exception is elected or to a swap that is subject to the clearing requirement but is not cleared. ↩

52. 17 CFR § 43.6(a)-(c), (e), (g)(1) and (g)(4)-(6). ↩

53. 17 CFR § 43.6(d)(1) (67% notional amount calculation), (d)(2), (d)(3) (75% and 50%) and (g)(2) (application to post-initial classes). ↩ ↩²

54. 17 CFR § 43.2, "Trimmed data set", and § 43.6(d)(1)(ii). ↩

55. 7 U.S.C. § 2(h)(8)(A) and (B). ↩

56. 17 CFR § 37.10(a) and (b). ↩

57. 17 CFR § 37.10(c) and (d)(1). ↩

58. 17 CFR § 37.12(a). ↩

59. 17 CFR § 37.3(a)(1)-(3). ↩

60. 17 CFR § 37.9(a)(2)(i) and (a)(3), and § 37.3(a)(3). ↩

61. 17 CFR § 37.9(b)(1) and (2). ↩

62. 17 CFR § 37.9(c). ↩

63. 17 CFR § 37.9(d). ↩

64. 17 CFR § 45.8(h)(1) and (2). ↩

65. 17 CFR § 37.9(e)(2)(i)(A) and (B). ↩

66. 7 U.S.C. § 2(i)(1) and (2). ↩

67. 17 CFR § 45.8(f). ↩

68. 17 CFR § 50.52(b)(4)(i) and (ii). ↩