A Global Approach to Trade Reporting

As reported here before, the FSB continue to investigate a soluton to the fragmentation of Trade Repositories around the world. In February feedback was published on their first consultation, this new report (and attached below) incorporates that feedback and recommends two ways forward, and keeps one more in reserve:

As mandated by the FSB, this report compares three basic options for aggregating TR data:

• Option 1 is a physically centralised aggregation mechanism;
• Option 2 is a logically centralised aggregation mechanism; and
• Option 3 involves the collection of raw data from individual TR databases by individual authorities that then aggregate the data themselves within their own systems. 

 

This report finds that aggregation Options 1 and 2 are highly preferable to Option 3 in order to ensure that authorities have access to the aggregated data that they need in order to perform their mandates and meet the G20 objectives. While Option 3 is the only one of these options that is currently available for use, it has practical limitations that allow it to meet only part of authorities' data needs, beyond protecting against market abuse.

 

However, this study has not arrived at a preference between Option 1 and 2. On the one hand, Option 1 would require a large expandable central data storage and computation facility, and the data would only be as timely as the latest run of the data loading cycle. On the other hand, Option 2 would require the individual TRs to host additional technology that would link the central aggregator to their respective databases, and there would be short delays in retrieving data compared to querying a pre-loaded database.

 

Even if Options 1 or 2 were chosen, Option 3 will continue to be an additional option available for individual authorities to pursue (based on their requirements) to supplement their use of Option 1 or 2.

Read the report (attached), it may well be a long while before we see any practical outcome of this goal. The three options are represented visually here: