With just over a month to go until the SFTR go-live date for some market participants, most notably banks and many investment firms, regulatory reporting, best execution analysis and business intelligence market leader, Cappitech, has put together some tips and tricks for firms getting ready to report now or later in the year. Below is a brief summary.

Ron Finberg, Regulation SME at Cappitech, said: “If you are a bank or such that needs to go live on April 11th, preparing for that first report, confirming how traders are inputting newly required information and how reference data will be updated are key areas of focus at this short period before going live. Firms such as asset managers that only start reporting in October, should have a different set of priorities in their preparation.”

1. Day one reporting – new transactions need to be reported from day 1 but open positions with long-dated maturities have some time. Firms should therefore be focusing on new SFTs and margin lending obligations
2. Holidays – SFTR officially goes into effect on a Saturday. It’s also Easter and Passover. Firms need to consider the practicalities of which personnel will be in the office.
3. Lifecycles – these are more complex compared to other regulations and are worth a final look in preparation
4. Reference data – ensuring update processes are in place will be key.
5. UTI sharing – some firms still lack confirmed methods for sharing and distributing UTIs so this remains a key focus
6. Be prepared for the unexpected – no testing will pick up all scenarios so certain reporting isssues are to be expected. A process to handle these should be in place.
7. UAT reviews – learning from MiFID, externa, reviews of SFTR reports will help to ensure accuracy before submissions begin.
8. Ensure your SFTR solution is future-proof to ensure coverage as time goes by and changes and tweaks are made to the regulation.