On Monday the 10th of July the CFTC published this roadmap that gives a view of the trail leading to Christmas 2019. It might only be the start of Q3, 2017 but this ten-page document means we can take a sneak peek under the tree and see what the 2019 Christmas pressies contain.

On Monday the 10th of July the CFTC published this roadmap that gives a view of the trail leading to Christmas 2019. It might only be the start of Q3, 2017 but this ten-page document means we can take a sneak peek under the tree and see what the 2019 Christmas pressies contain. There appear to be two gift-wrapped boxes:

• A Review of SDR Operations
• A Review of Reporting Workflows

Okay so perhaps not as exciting as Amazons finest wares but slightly more intriguing than just a pair of new socks! So what do these festive packages involve then.

The CFTC describe the Review of SDR Operations as:

• Leverage existing SDR validation processes to improve consistency and completeness of data reporting
• Work with SDRs to set up processes for rejecting swap data reports with missing or invalid data
• Identify initial set of minimum validations, including blank/not blank validations and some allowable values and format validations where appropriate

As I commented back in May 2016 (see here) this is essentially the CFTC rolling out their own version of the ESMA Level 1 & Level 2 validations implemented in Europe.

The Review of Reporting Workflows box is a little more complicated when the tinsel is removed but can be summarised as:

• Consultations to explore removing unnecessary messages and reporting streams. Perhaps consolidating PET & Confirmation messages into one harmonized message.
• Focussing on trying to harmonize fields (the CPMI-IOSCO works in this arena are specifically mentioned) and defining the minimum subset of fields required.
• Producing technical specifications including mapping existing FpML & FIX messaging values to allowable values (CPMI-IOSCO?). Trying to more closely align with foreign regulators. And producing updates specifications for the SDRs (presumably in line with the SDR Operations review).
• And finally, a review of Reporting deadlines with an eye on whether they impact reporting accuracy along with a review of the utility of the Real Time Public Tape.

After a few years where the pendulum of regulatory reporting seems to have been focussed primarily on Europe (EMIR, MIFIR & SFTR) and to a lesser but no less important extent on APAC (HKMA Phase 2 etc.) it seems that the focus is starting to gravitate back towards the US. Perhaps even the SEC SBSR reporting will regain some momentum and start the US ball rolling again. Regardless the message seems clear that for banks across the globe the G20 reporting challenges and changes appear to have no end in sight. Here at RegTek.Solutions we’re already geared up to tackle the changes and continuing to support our clients with these challenges. Though I must admit, I might just prefer that new pair of socks under the tree for Christmas 2019!