MarketAxess, the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for U.S. and European high-grade corporate bonds, emerging markets bonds and other fixed income securities submitted its most recent letter to the CFTC, commenting on the effective date for swap regulation.
We have no doubt that the Commission and staff will continue working diligently to finalise as quickly as possible all the regulations required to implement Dodd-Frank, says Rick McVey, CEO of MarketAxess. We understand, however, that some factors are outside of the Commissions control, including agency resources to a certain extent. Because of this, MarketAxess would prefer an order providing a temporary exemption that would last until such time as the CFTC has adopted and implemented its final rules.
MarketAxess commended the CFTC for proposing steps to clarify which statutory provisions of Dodd-Frank will take effect on July 16th, 2011 and to provide exemptions and take other actions to delay the effective date of certain provisions in order to avoid disruption to and legal uncertainty for the derivatives markets and their participants.
MarketAxess additionally recommends that the CFTC provide greater transparency by proposing for public comment a schedule of final rule implementation. The absence of this schedule has created uncertainty among market participants regarding the Commissions plan for phasing in its final rules and has thereby made it more difficult for market participants to make critical decisions regarding resource commitments and allocations, added McVey.
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