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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 117 / Tuesday, June 22, 2021 / Notices
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

Rule 13n5b3 requires an SDR to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the transaction data and positions that it maintains are complete and accurate.106 Rule 13n 5b5 requires an SDR to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent any provision in a valid SBS
transaction from being invalidated or modified through the procedures or operations of the SDR.107 Rule 13n 5b6 requires an SDR to establish procedures and provide facilities reasonably designed to effectively resolve disputes over the accuracy of the transaction data and positions that are recorded in the SDR.108
Furthermore, Section 13n5F of the Exchange Act and Rule 13n4b8
thereunder each require an SDR to maintain the privacy of any and all SBS
transaction information that the SDR
receives.109 In addition, Rule 13n 9b1 requires an SDR to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably designed to protect the privacy of any and all SBS
transaction information that the SDR
receives and that include policies and procedures to protect the privacy of any and all SBS transaction information that the SDR shares with affiliates and nonaffiliated third parties.110 Rule 13n 9b2 also requires an SDR to establish, and maintain safeguards, policies, and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misappropriation or misuse, directly or indirectly, of any confidential information received by the SDR, material non-public information, or intellectual property, such as trading strategies or portfolio positions, by: i Limiting access to such information and intellectual property; ii having standards for trading by persons associated with the SDR for their personal benefit or the benefit of others;
and iii having adequate oversight to ensure compliance with these safeguards, policies, and procedures.111
The Commission received no comments applicable to these requirements. As described above, the ITV Application includes policies and procedures designed to protect transaction data and its systems by restricting access to users, who are obligated to comport with ICE Trade Vaults rules in a manner that facilitates 106 17

CFR 240.13n5b3.
CFR 240.13n5b5.
108 17 CFR 240.13n5b6.
109 See 15 U.S.C. 78mn5F; 17 CFR 240.13n 4b8, 240.13n9.
110 17 CFR 240.13n9.
111 See 17 CFR 240.13n9b2.
107 17

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ICE Trade Vaults compliance with its obligations under Commission rules.
The Commission views this approach as reasonable. Access to ICE Trade Vaults systems to view trade data or verify information should be conditioned such that ICE Trade Vault retains the ability to protect the data, its systems, and its users. The Commission notes that ICE
Trade Vault retains the responsibility, among other things, to ensure that its policies and procedures are reasonably designed to: i Ensure trade data reported to it is complete and accurate, as required under Rule 13n5b1; ii ensure that its systems provide adequate levels of capacity, integrity, resiliency, availability and security, as required under Rule 13n6; and iii ensure that it protects the privacy and confidentiality of transaction information, as required under Rule 13n9b. Additionally, the ITV
Application includes procedures designed to ensure that any valid provisions of trade information are not modified or invalidated, and these procedures include controls that are regularly audited and processing systems designed to prevent unauthorized changes to SBS
information. The Commission also believes that ICE Trade Vault provides procedures and facilities reasonably designed to effectively resolve disputes over the accuracy of the transaction data and positions that are recorded in the SDR.
Furthermore, the ITV Application contains policies and procedures regarding both data security and the privacy of SBS data, the latter of which includes in each case procedures limiting access to SBS data to employees with either direct or support responsibilities related to systems that maintain the data, and that limit the use of such data in all cases to the performance of job responsibilities. The Commission believes that such policies and procedures also establish a standard for the trading practices of personnel that prevents the use of the data for personal benefit or the benefit of others.
In addition, ICE Trade Vault has policies and procedures that, when taken together with policies and procedures regarding the duties of the CCO,112 are reasonably designed to protect the privacy of SBS transaction information, including information shared with affiliates and third parties, through adequate oversight to ensure 112 See supra Part III.A describing policies and procedures regarding the CCO and conflicts of interest.

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compliance with the policies and procedures described above.
D. Fees 1. Summary of ICE Trade Vaults Application According to ICE Trade Vault, all fees imposed by ICE Trade Vault in connection with the reporting of swap data shall be equitable and established in a uniform and non-discriminatory manner as determined from time-to-time by ICE Trade Vault.113 In addition, ICE
Trade Vault represents that all fees will be commensurate to ICE Trade Vaults costs for providing its SDR service. ICE
Trade Vault states it will only assess fees as noted in its fee schedule, and there will be no hidden fees associated with ICE Trade Vault Service.114
The most current pricing schedule is made available via the ICE Trade Vault website. ICE Trade Vault applies fees according to the type of SDR user accessing ICE Trade Vault:
Counterparty, clearing agency, execution agent and third party reporter.115 According to ICE Trade Vault, in the case of the execution agent versus the third party reporter, the application of fees is differentiated based upon the type of service provided in each case.116 According to ICE Trade Vault, an execution agent is directly involved with trade execution; as such, it is charged directly for the fees associated with the SDR just as a counterparty, whereas the underlying funds are not charged a fee.117 However, the third party reporter is not involved with the trade execution and simply provides a service to counterparties who have an obligation to report; therefore, according to ICE Trade Vault, they are assessed a fee for each of those reporting parties on behalf of whom they are reporting the trades.118 According to ICE
Trade Vault, as a result, the third party reporter is able to pass the cost of its service to each of its counterparties utilizing third party reporting; this 113 See Security-Based SDR Service Disclosure Document, Ex. V.2, sec. 8; see also Swap Data Repository Rulebook, Security-Based Swap Data Reporting Annex, Ex. HH.2, sec. 2.7 In accordance with Exchange Act Rule 13n4c, any dues, fees or other charges imposed by, and any discounts or rebates offered by, ICE Trade Vault in connection with the ICE SBSDR Service shall be fair and reasonable and not unreasonably discriminatory.
ICE Trade Vault dues, fees, other charges, discounts, or rebates shall be applied consistently across all similarly situated Users.
114 See ICE Trade Vault Security-Based Swap Data Repository Service and Pricing Schedule, Ex. M.2.
115 See Dues, Fees and Charges, Ex. M.1.
116 See id.
117 See id.
118 See id.

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