A speech by Cathie Armour, Commissioner, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, at the ISDA Annual Australia Conference, 17 October 2013.
This conference is timely as it comes just two weeks after the commencement of the first of Australia’s G20 commitments to over-the counter (OTC) derivatives reform – the obligation for some Australian banks to begin reporting their OTC derivatives transactions to trade repositories.
It also comes at a time when the Australian Government and Australian regulators are gearing up to begin consultation and implementation of other key reforms – namely the mandatory clearing obligation and the international principles in relation to the margining of non-centrally cleared transactions.
This morning I’d like to cover four areas that are at the forefront of ASIC’s and the Australian regulators’ minds:
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first, I’ll talk briefly about the recently agreed international principles on margin requirements for non-centrally cleared trades
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second, I’ll give an update on implementation of trade reporting in Australia
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then I’d like to take a forward look on mandatory clearing requirements and requirements for the mandatory execution of trades on organised trading platforms
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finally, I’d like to provide an update on ASIC’s cross-border discussions and our perspective on how these are progressing.