CFTC Finalizes Joint Data Standards Under the 2022 Financial Data Transparency Act

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said it has finalized joint data standards under the 2022 Financial Data Transparency Act, setting technical specifications for data submitted to certain financial regulators. According to Odaily, eight other agencies—including the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Treasury Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—have established or plan to establish similar standards. The standards aim to improve interoperability of financial regulatory data across agencies by aligning identifiers for entities, geographic locations, dates, and specific products and currencies. CFTC Chair Selig said market participants operating in an increasingly integrated financial ecosystem face reporting requirements from multiple federal agencies that often use different standards for similar or identical data. He said inconsistent standards increase costs for firms without improving regulators’ ability to use the data, and described the final rule as a step to reduce unnecessary burdens. The standards also include joint principles for data transmission, as well as schema and classification formats, intended to help financial institutions submit high-quality, machine-readable data to regulators.