Key Documents
Extensive consultation occurred in 2014 on a proposed central clearing mandate for over-the-counter (OTC) interest rate derivatives denominated in Australian dollars and four global currencies (US dollars, euro, Japanese yen and British pounds), limited to trades between internationally active dealers.
In December 2014 the Government announced that it would proceed with implementing the proposed central clearing mandate.
Drafts of a Ministerial determination and of a set of amendments to the Corporations Regulations 2001 (the Corporations Regulations) implementing the proposed mandate have been developed and are being provided for public consultation.
In December 2014 the Government also announced that it would provide relief from the trade reporting requirements by allowing ‘single-sided reporting’ for entities with low levels of OTC derivatives transactions, provided they conclude the transactions with counterparties that are already required or have agreed to report the trade.
The announcement specified that this relief would be implemented by introducing single-sided reporting for Phase 3B entities as defined in the trade reporting derivative transaction rules made by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Phase 3B entities as defined in those rules have less than $5 billion gross notional OTC derivatives positions outstanding.
Draft amendments to the Corporations Regulations containing this measure have been developed and are being made available for public consultation.
The draft Ministerial determination relating to the proposed central clearing mandate and the proposed amendments to the Corporations Regulations implementing both of these measures are incorporated in the attached Corporations (Derivatives) Amendment Determination 2015 (No. 1) and the Corporations Amendment (Central Clearing and Single-Sided Reporting) Regulation 2015. In addition an Explanatory Guide is being published to assist in understanding the effect of the proposed amendments.