CFTC sets joint data standards for U.S. financial reporting

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CFTC joint data reporting standards

Highlights

The CFTC has finalized technical data standards for financial reporting, establishing joint identifiers for entities, locations, dates, products, and currencies among U.S. regulators.
Nine key agencies including the Federal Reserve, SEC, and Treasury are establishing or expected to act on these joint reporting standards to improve regulatory data interoperability.
The new principles-based approach aims to lower compliance costs by allowing firms to submit high-quality, machine-readable data using consistent schema and taxonomy formats.

Common reporting framework takes shape

As reported by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the final rule establishes technical standards for data submitted to certain financial regulatory agencies. The framework sets joint standards for common identifiers covering entities, geographic locations, dates, and certain products and currencies.

The agency says the standards are designed to improve interoperability of financial regulatory data across federal regulators. In addition to the CFTC, eight other agencies have established or are expected to act on the joint standards, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Compliance costs and data quality in focus

CFTC Chairman Selig says market participants operate in an increasingly convergent financial ecosystem and often face similar reporting requirements from multiple federal agencies that use different data standards. He says those inconsistencies raise costs for firms without delivering a matching benefit to regulators' use of the data collected.

The standards also include a principles-based joint standard for data transmission and for schema and taxonomy formats. The CFTC says that approach would allow financial institutions to submit high-quality, machine-readable data to agencies, supporting more consistent reporting and regulatory analysis.

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