Key Documents
At the 2009 G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, the Australian Government joined other jurisdictions in committing to substantial reforms to practices in the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. The three key G20 commitments in this area are:
- To improve transparency by requiring all OTC derivatives to be reported to central registries known as trade repositories;
- To improve market efficiency and risk management by requiring standardised OTC derivatives to be cleared through specialised entities known as central counterparties; and
- To improve market efficiency and integrity by requiring the execution of all standardised OTC derivatives on exchanges or electronic trading platforms, where appropriate.
Legislation was passed in 2012 which allows the Minister to make a determination with respect to a G20 commitment providing authority for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to develop detailed rules implementing the determination.
A first determination was subsequently made mandating trade reporting of OTC derivatives, which is currently being implemented through a phased approach.
The Australian Government is publishing this proposals paper to seek stakeholder views on a proposed approach for a first step in implementing its G-20 commitments in relation to central clearing of OTC derivatives. This consultation is conducted specifically in relation to the requirements in section 901B(3) of the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) and related obligations under the Act, and the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The proposals paper is based on recommendations provided by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority, ASIC and the Reserve Bank of Australia contained in the Report on the Australian OTC Derivatives Market, published in July 2013. It is recommended that these proposals be read in conjunction with this report.
For this consultation Treasury has published a consultation website that will allow you to post comments for each section of the paper. These comments will be added to the website and made publicly available immediately. Treasury will moderate the comments after they are submitted on the website. Please refer to the moderation policy for more information.
This paper is also available for you to download from this page and you can still provide your submission via the Treasury website online form or by post as detailed below in the Making a Submission box.