(a) Registration

(1) In general

No person may operate a facility for the trading or processing of security-based swaps, unless the facility is registered as a security-based swap execution facility or as a national securities exchange under this section.

(2) Dual registration

Any person that is registered as a security-based swap execution facility under this section shall register with the Commission regardless of whether the person also is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a swap execution facility.

(b) Trading and trade processing

A security-based swap execution facility that is registered under subsection (a) may—

(1) make available for trading any security-based swap; and

(2) facilitate trade processing of any security-based swap.

(c) Identification of facility used to trade security-based swaps by national securities exchanges

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Terms Used In 15 USC 78c-4

  • Board: means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See 15 USC 78c
  • Commission: means the Securities and Exchange Commission established by section 78d of this title. See 15 USC 78c
  • exchange: means any organization, association, or group of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, which constitutes, maintains, or provides a market place or facilities for bringing together purchasers and sellers of securities or for otherwise performing with respect to securities the functions commonly performed by a stock exchange as that term is generally understood, and includes the market place and the market facilities maintained by such exchange. See 15 USC 78c
  • facility: when used with respect to an exchange includes its premises, tangible or intangible property whether on the premises or not, any right to the use of such premises or property or any service thereof for the purpose of effecting or reporting a transaction on an exchange (including, among other things, any system of communication to or from the exchange, by ticker or otherwise, maintained by or with the consent of the exchange), and any right of the exchange to the use of any property or service. See 15 USC 78c
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
  • member: when used with respect to a national securities exchange means (i) any natural person permitted to effect transactions on the floor of the exchange without the services of another person acting as broker, (ii) any registered broker or dealer with which such a natural person is associated, (iii) any registered broker or dealer permitted to designate as a representative such a natural person, and (iv) any other registered broker or dealer which agrees to be regulated by such exchange and with respect to which the exchange undertakes to enforce compliance with the provisions of this chapter, the rules and regulations thereunder, and its own rules. See 15 USC 78c
  • officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
  • Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
  • participant: when used with respect to a clearing agency means any person who uses a clearing agency to clear or settle securities transactions or to transfer, pledge, lend, or hypothecate securities. See 15 USC 78c
  • person: means a natural person, company, government, or political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of a government. See 15 USC 78c
  • records: means accounts, correspondence, memorandums, tapes, discs, papers, books, and other documents or transcribed information of any type, whether expressed in ordinary or machine language. See 15 USC 78c
  • security-based swap: includes any agreement, contract, or transaction that is as described in subparagraph (A) and also is based on the value of 1 or more interest or other rates, currencies, commodities, instruments of indebtedness, indices, quantitative measures, other financial or economic interest or property of any kind (other than a single security or a narrow-based security index), or the occurrence, non-occurrence, or the extent of the occurrence of an event or contingency associated with a potential financial, economic, or commercial consequence (other than an event described in subparagraph (A)(ii)(III)). See 15 USC 78c
  • security-based swap execution facility: means a trading system or platform in which multiple participants have the ability to execute or trade security-based swaps by accepting bids and offers made by multiple participants in the facility or system, through any means of interstate commerce, including any trading facility, that&mdash. See 15 USC 78c
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.

A national securities exchange shall, to the extent that the exchange also operates a security-based swap execution facility and uses the same electronic trade execution system for listing and executing trades of security-based swaps on or through the exchange and the facility, identify whether electronic trading of such security-based swaps is taking place on or through the national securities exchange or the security-based swap execution facility.

(d) Core principles for security-based swap execution facilities

(1) Compliance with core principles

(A) In general

To be registered, and maintain registration, as a security-based swap execution facility, the security-based swap execution facility shall comply with—

(i) the core principles described in this subsection; and

(ii) any requirement that the Commission may impose by rule or regulation.

(B) Reasonable discretion of security-based swap execution facility

Unless otherwise determined by the Commission, by rule or regulation, a security-based swap execution facility described in subparagraph (A) shall have reasonable discretion in establishing the manner in which it complies with the core principles described in this subsection.

(2) Compliance with rules

A security-based swap execution facility shall—

(A) establish and enforce compliance with any rule established by such security-based swap execution facility, including—

(i) the terms and conditions of the security-based swaps traded or processed on or through the facility; and

(ii) any limitation on access to the facility;


(B) establish and enforce trading, trade processing, and participation rules that will deter abuses and have the capacity to detect, investigate, and enforce those rules, including means—

(i) to provide market participants with impartial access to the market; and

(ii) to capture information that may be used in establishing whether rule violations have occurred; and


(C) establish rules governing the operation of the facility, including rules specifying trading procedures to be used in entering and executing orders traded or posted on the facility, including block trades.

(3) Security-based swaps not readily susceptible to manipulation

The security-based swap execution facility shall permit trading only in security-based swaps that are not readily susceptible to manipulation.

(4) Monitoring of trading and trade processing

The security-based swap execution facility shall—

(A) establish and enforce rules or terms and conditions defining, or specifications detailing—

(i) trading procedures to be used in entering and executing orders traded on or through the facilities of the security-based swap execution facility; and

(ii) procedures for trade processing of security-based swaps on or through the facilities of the security-based swap execution facility; and


(B) monitor trading in security-based swaps to prevent manipulation, price distortion, and disruptions of the delivery or cash settlement process through surveillance, compliance, and disciplinary practices and procedures, including methods for conducting real-time monitoring of trading and comprehensive and accurate trade reconstructions.

(5) Ability to obtain information

The security-based swap execution facility shall—

(A) establish and enforce rules that will allow the facility to obtain any necessary information to perform any of the functions described in this subsection;

(B) provide the information to the Commission on request; and

(C) have the capacity to carry out such international information-sharing agreements as the Commission may require.

(6) Financial integrity of transactions

The security-based swap execution facility shall establish and enforce rules and procedures for ensuring the financial integrity of security-based swaps entered on or through the facilities of the security-based swap execution facility, including the clearance and settlement of security-based swaps pursuant to section 78c-3(a)(1) of this title.

(7) Emergency authority

The security-based swap execution facility shall adopt rules to provide for the exercise of emergency authority, in consultation or cooperation with the Commission, as is necessary and appropriate, including the authority to liquidate or transfer open positions in any security-based swap or to suspend or curtail trading in a security-based swap.

(8) Timely publication of trading information

(A) In general

The security-based swap execution facility shall make public timely information on price, trading volume, and other trading data on security-based swaps to the extent prescribed by the Commission.

(B) Capacity of security-based swap execution facility

The security-based swap execution facility shall be required to have the capacity to electronically capture and transmit and disseminate trade information with respect to transactions executed on or through the facility.

(9) Recordkeeping and reporting

(A) In general

A security-based swap execution facility shall—

(i) maintain records of all activities relating to the business of the facility, including a complete audit trail, in a form and manner acceptable to the Commission for a period of 5 years; and

(ii) report to the Commission, in a form and manner acceptable to the Commission, such information as the Commission determines to be necessary or appropriate for the Commission to perform the duties of the Commission under this chapter.

(B) Requirements

The Commission shall adopt data collection and reporting requirements for security-based swap execution facilities that are comparable to corresponding requirements for clearing agencies and security-based swap data repositories.

(10) Antitrust considerations

Unless necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of this chapter, the security-based swap execution facility shall not—

(A) adopt any rules or taking 1 any actions that result in any unreasonable restraint of trade; or

(B) impose any material anticompetitive burden on trading or clearing.

(11) Conflicts of interest

The security-based swap execution facility shall—

(A) establish and enforce rules to minimize conflicts of interest in its decision-making process; and

(B) establish a process for resolving the conflicts of interest.

(12) Financial resources

(A) In general

The security-based swap execution facility shall have adequate financial, operational, and managerial resources to discharge each responsibility of the security-based swap execution facility, as determined by the Commission.

(B) Determination of resource adequacy

The financial resources of a security-based swap execution facility shall be considered to be adequate if the value of the financial resources—

(i) enables the organization to meet its financial obligations to its members and participants notwithstanding a default by the member or participant creating the largest financial exposure for that organization in extreme but plausible market conditions; and

(ii) exceeds the total amount that would enable the security-based swap execution facility to cover the operating costs of the security-based swap execution facility for a 1-year period, as calculated on a rolling basis.

(13) System safeguards

The security-based swap execution facility shall—

(A) establish and maintain a program of risk analysis and oversight to identify and minimize sources of operational risk, through the development of appropriate controls and procedures, and automated systems, that—

(i) are reliable and secure; and

(ii) have adequate scalable capacity;


(B) establish and maintain emergency procedures, backup facilities, and a plan for disaster recovery that allow for—

(i) the timely recovery and resumption of operations; and

(ii) the fulfillment of the responsibilities and obligations of the security-based swap execution facility; and


(C) periodically conduct tests to verify that the backup resources of the security-based swap execution facility are sufficient to ensure continued—

(i) order processing and trade matching;

(ii) price reporting;

(iii) market surveillance; and

(iv) maintenance of a comprehensive and accurate audit trail.

(14) Designation of chief compliance officer

(A) In general

Each security-based swap execution facility shall designate an individual to serve as a chief compliance officer.

(B) Duties

The chief compliance officer shall—

(i) report directly to the board or to the senior officer of the facility;

(ii) review compliance with the core principles in this subsection;

(iii) in consultation with the board of the facility, a body performing a function similar to that of a board, or the senior officer of the facility, resolve any conflicts of interest that may arise;

(iv) be responsible for establishing and administering the policies and procedures required to be established pursuant to this section;

(v) ensure compliance with this chapter and the rules and regulations issued under this chapter, including rules prescribed by the Commission pursuant to this section;

(vi) establish procedures for the remediation of noncompliance issues found during—

(I) compliance office reviews;

(II) look backs;

(III) internal or external audit findings;

(IV) self-reported errors; or

(V) through validated complaints; and


(vii) establish and follow appropriate procedures for the handling, management response, remediation, retesting, and closing of noncompliance issues.

(C) Annual reports

(i) In general

In accordance with rules prescribed by the Commission, the chief compliance officer shall annually prepare and sign a report that contains a description of—

(I) the compliance of the security-based swap execution facility with this chapter; and

(II) the policies and procedures, including the code of ethics and conflict of interest policies, of the security-based security-based 2 swap execution facility.

(ii) Requirements

The chief compliance officer shall—

(I) submit each report described in clause (i) with the appropriate financial report of the security-based swap execution facility that is required to be submitted to the Commission pursuant to this section; and

(II) include in the report a certification that, under penalty of law, the report is accurate and complete.

(e) Exemptions

The Commission may exempt, conditionally or unconditionally, a security-based swap execution facility from registration under this section if the Commission finds that the facility is subject to comparable, comprehensive supervision and regulation on a consolidated basis by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

(f) Rules

The Commission shall prescribe rules governing the regulation of security-based swap execution facilities under this section.