Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110
§7b–3 Swap Execution Facilities
Title 7 › CHAPTER 1 — COMMODITY EXCHANGES › § 7b–3
Summary
People who run a place where swaps are traded or processed must register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a swap execution facility (or as a designated contract market). A registered swap execution facility (SEF) may list and process most swaps, but it cannot list or confirm swaps in an agricultural commodity unless the Commission creates rules allowing those swaps. If a trading venue also runs a contract market using the same electronic system, it must say whether a given trade is happening on the contract market or on the SEF. The SEC and the CFTC can write and update rules about which swaps must be done on a SEF. Swaps that the rules do not require to be on a SEF may be traded by other lawful means. The law’s goal is to encourage trading on SEFs and to make prices more visible before trades. To stay registered, a SEF must follow core rules. In short, it must write and enforce clear trading and access rules, watch trading to prevent manipulation, keep good records and reports, share information with the Commission, and have proper market surveillance and the ability to reconstruct trades. It must limit positions or hold traders accountable to reduce manipulation and follow any position limits set by the Commission. The SEF must ensure trades are financially cleared and settled, have emergency powers to suspend or move positions, publish timely trade data, keep records for 5 years, and meet data-reporting standards. It must avoid unreasonable restraints on competition, manage conflicts of interest, have enough money and staff to cover one year of operating costs, maintain secure and tested systems with backups, and name a chief compliance officer who reports to senior management, enforces rules, handles conflicts, and files an annual certified compliance report. The Commission can exempt a facility from registration if it is already supervised by the SEC, a banking regulator, or an appropriate foreign regulator, and the Commission will set rules for alternative SEFs.
Full Legal Text
Title 7, §7b–3
Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Registration
(1)In general
No person may operate a facility for the trading or processing of swaps unless the facility is registered as a swap execution facility or as a designated contract market under this section.
(2)Dual registration
Any person that is registered as a swap execution facility under this section shall register with the Commission regardless of whether the person also is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a swap execution facility.
(b)Trading and trade processing
(1)In general
Except as specified in paragraph (2), a swap execution facility that is registered under subsection (a) may—
(A)make available for trading any swap; and
(B)facilitate trade processing of any swap.
(2)Agricultural swaps
A swap execution facility may not list for trading or confirm the execution of any swap in an agricultural commodity (as defined by the Commission) except pursuant to a rule or regulation of the Commission allowing the swap under such terms and conditions as the Commission shall prescribe.
(c)Identification of facility used to trade swaps by contract markets
A board of trade that operates a contract market shall, to the extent that the board of trade also operates a swap execution facility and uses the same electronic trade execution system for listing and executing trades of swaps on or through the contract market and the swap execution facility, identify whether the electronic trading of such swaps is taking place on or through the contract market or the swap execution facility.
(d)Rule-writing
(1)The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission may promulgate rules defining the universe of swaps that can be executed on a swap execution facility. These rules shall take into account the price and nonprice requirements of the counterparties to a swap and the goal of this section as set forth in subsection (e).
(2)For all swaps that are not required to be executed through a swap execution facility as defined in paragraph (1), such trades may be executed through any other available means of interstate commerce.
(3)The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission shall update these rules as necessary to account for technological and other innovation.
(e)Rule of construction
The goal of this section is to promote the trading of swaps on swap execution facilities and to promote pre-trade price transparency in the swaps market.
(f)Core principles for swap execution facilities
(1)Compliance with core principles
(A)In general
To be registered, and maintain registration, as a swap execution facility, the 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 pursuant to section 12a(5) of this title.
(B)Reasonable discretion of swap execution facility
Unless otherwise determined by the Commission by rule or regulation, a swap execution facility described in subparagraph (A) shall have reasonable discretion in establishing the manner in which the swap execution facility complies with the core principles described in this subsection.
(2)Compliance with rules
A swap execution facility shall—
(A)establish and enforce compliance with any rule of the swap execution facility, including—
(i)the terms and conditions of the swaps traded or processed on or through the swap execution facility; and
(ii)any limitation on access to the swap execution 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;
(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; and
(D)provide by its rules that when a swap dealer or major swap participant enters into or facilitates a swap that is subject to the mandatory clearing requirement of section 2(h) of this title, the swap dealer or major swap participant shall be responsible for compliance with the mandatory trading requirement under section 2(h)(8) of this title.
(3)Swaps not readily susceptible to manipulation
The swap execution facility shall permit trading only in swaps that are not readily susceptible to manipulation.
(4)Monitoring of trading and trade processing
The 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 swap execution facility; and
(ii)procedures for trade processing of swaps on or through the facilities of the swap execution facility; and
(B)monitor trading in 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 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 section;
(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)Position limits or accountability
(A)In general
To reduce the potential threat of market manipulation or congestion, especially during trading in the delivery month, a swap execution facility that is a trading facility shall adopt for each of the contracts of the facility, as is necessary and appropriate, position limitations or position accountability for speculators.
(B)Position limits
For any contract that is subject to a position limitation established by the Commission pursuant to section 6a(a) of this title, the swap execution facility shall—
(i)set its position limitation at a level no higher than the Commission limitation; and
(ii)monitor positions established on or through the swap execution facility for compliance with the limit set by the Commission and the limit, if any, set by the swap execution facility.
(7)Financial integrity of transactions
The swap execution facility shall establish and enforce rules and procedures for ensuring the financial integrity of swaps entered on or through the facilities of the swap execution facility, including the clearance and settlement of the swaps pursuant to section 2(h)(1) of this title.
(8)Emergency authority
The 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 swap or to suspend or curtail trading in a swap.
(9)Timely publication of trading information
(A)In general
The swap execution facility shall make public timely information on price, trading volume, and other trading data on swaps to the extent prescribed by the Commission.
(B)Capacity of swap execution facility
The swap execution facility shall be required to have the capacity to electronically capture and transmit trade information with respect to transactions executed on the facility.
(10)Recordkeeping and reporting
(A)In general
A 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;
(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; and
(iii)shall keep any such records relating to swaps defined in section 1a(47)(A)(v) of this title open to inspection and examination by the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
(B)Requirements
The Commission shall adopt data collection and reporting requirements for swap execution facilities that are comparable to corresponding requirements for derivatives clearing organizations and swap data repositories.
(11)Antitrust considerations
Unless necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of this chapter, the swap execution facility shall not—
(A)adopt any rules or taking any actions that result in any unreasonable restraint of trade; or
(B)impose any material anticompetitive burden on trading or clearing.
(12)Conflicts of interest
The 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.
(13)Financial resources
(A)In general
The swap execution facility shall have adequate financial, operational, and managerial resources to discharge each responsibility of the swap execution facility.
(B)Determination of resource adequacy
The financial resources of a swap execution facility shall be considered to be adequate if the value of the financial resources exceeds the total amount that would enable the swap execution facility to cover the operating costs of the swap execution facility for a 1-year period, as calculated on a rolling basis.
(14)System safeguards
The 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 swap execution facility; and
(C)periodically conduct tests to verify that the backup resources of the 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.
(15)Designation of chief compliance officer
(A)In general
Each 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; and
(vi)establish procedures for the remediation of noncompliance issues found during compliance office reviews, look backs, internal or external audit findings, self-reported errors, or through validated complaints.
(C)Requirements for procedures
In establishing procedures under subparagraph (B)(vi), the chief compliance officer shall design the procedures to establish the handling, management response, remediation, retesting, and closing of noncompliance issues.
(D)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)
(II)the policies and procedures, including the code of ethics and conflict of interest policies, of the 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 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.
(g)Exemptions
The Commission may exempt, conditionally or unconditionally, a 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 Securities and Exchange Commission, a prudential regulator, or the appropriate governmental authorities in the home country of the facility.
(h)Rules
The Commission shall prescribe rules governing the regulation of alternative swap execution facilities under this section.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective on the later of 360 days after July 21, 2010, or, to the extent a provision of subtitle A (§§ 711–754) of title VII of Pub. L. 111–203 requires a rulemaking, not less than 60 days after publication of the final rule or regulation implementing such provision of subtitle A, see section 754 of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as an
Effective Date
of 2010 Amendment note under section 1a of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
7 U.S.C. § 7b–3
Title 7, Agriculture
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110