ASIC Reporting Regulation

In July 2013, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) introduced the ASIC Derivative Transaction Rules (Reporting) 2013 under Part 7.5A of the Corporations Act, enforcing firms to submit information about derivative transaction or positions relating to derivative transactions to a Trade Repository.

The obligation is to report to a Licensed Repository, except that foreign entities (other than REs or Trustees of an Australian Entity) may report to a Prescribed Repository.

• Prescribed Trade Repository –Trade Repository under a similar regulation (e.g. EMIR) consuming data from non- Australian corporations.
• Licenced Derivative Trade Repository – it may be licensed by ASIC as a foreign-located entity and used by reporting firms who are domiciled within Australia or domiciled overseas and not electing to report to a Prescribed Repository.

Entering into effect in 2013, with a phased implementation based on the scale and sophistication of the reporting firm, ASIC reporting has now been fully implemented for all relevant asset classes, types of reporting and counterparties.

Two types of reporting entities have been identified:

1. Reporting entities with a total gross notional position above AUD $5 billion
2. Reporting entities with a total gross notional position below AUD $5 billion

The reporting obligation is mandatory for all reporting entities above AUD $5 billion, however any entity with a total gross notional position < AUD $5billion may opt-in to single-sided reporting (i.e. they do not need to report), provided that their counterparty reports the trade.

This segregation of reporting entity types has introduced the concept of single sided reporting, as ASIC is primarily focused on larger financial institutions that are systemically influential. This reduces the workload on smaller firms, however it is still the responsibility of the entities with a total gross notional position below AUD $5 billion to ensure a report is submitted on their behalf, accurately and in a timely manner.

The mandatory obligation requires OTC derivatives for all asset classes to be reported across to one of two types of trade repositories: Prescribed Trade Repository or Licensed Derivative Trade Repository.

• Commodity (other than electricity derivatives)
• Credit
• Equity
• Foreign Exchange
• Interest Rate

T+1, the day after the trade is executed.