Title 15 › CHAPTER 2B — SECURITIES EXCHANGES › § 78o–10
People and firms must register with the SEC before they can act as security-based swap dealers or as major security-based swap participants. To register, they must file an application in the form the SEC requires and give information about their business. Once registered, they must keep filing reports the SEC asks for, keep books and records the SEC requires, and let SEC staff inspect those records. The SEC had to make rules for registration within 1 year after July 21, 2010. A person cannot work on swaps for a dealer if they are legally disqualified and the dealer knew or should have known about that disqualification. Even if a firm is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, it still must register with the SEC if required here. The SEC and other regulators must set and enforce rules on capital, margin, reporting, trading records, business conduct, and documentation. Banks and other firms that have a prudential regulator follow the capital and margin rules that regulator sets; firms without a prudential regulator follow SEC rules. Those rules must require minimum capital and both initial and variation margin for swaps that are not cleared, allow noncash collateral when appropriate, and be designed to match risks and protect the financial system. Dealers must keep daily trading records (including emails, messages, and call recordings), keep an audit trail, and keep records linked to each counterparty. Dealers must avoid fraud, supervise their business, follow position limits, and tell counterparties about material risks, conflicts, and daily marks. Special rules protect “special entities” like governments, public plans, and endowments: dealers advising them must act in their best interest and gather needed information, and dealers dealing with them must ensure independent representation and make written disclosures. Each firm must have a chief compliance officer who reports to senior management, runs compliance programs, and files an annual compliance report that must accompany financial reports and be certified as accurate. The SEC has primary enforcement power except where prudential regulators have exclusive authority over prudential rules. Agencies must refer issues to each other and have a 90-day backstop for starting enforcement. The SEC can censure, limit, suspend (up to 12 months), or revoke registrations and can bar or sanction associated persons for serious violations or recent convictions (within 10 years). It is illegal for a barred person to work with a dealer or for a dealer to knowingly let such a person work for them.
Full Legal Text
Commerce and Trade, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
15 U.S.C. § 78o–10
Title 15, Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110